Speech 


Stuff 


Concerning  the  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
for  use  in  the 

UNITED 
WAR  WORK  CAMPAIGN  j 


YMCA 


V 


PROOF  COPY— ISSUED  AUGUST  29th 

FOR  SPEAKERS  ONLY 


NOT  FOR  GENERAL  DISTRIBUTION 
POSITIVELY  NOT  TO  BE  REPRINTED 


6 

D 

Q 


O 

D 

O 

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lonocss— to  i  ipnor— =ao 


SPEECH  STUFF 

CONCERNING  THE  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
FOR  USE  IN  THE 

UNITED  WAR  WORK 
CAMPAIGN 


Proof  Copy 
{Issued  August  2Qth) 


FOR  SPEAKERS  ONLY 

NOT  FOR  GENERAL  DISTRIBUTION 


POSITIVELY  NOT  TO  BE  REPRINTED 


CONTENTS 


Title   Page    1 

Contents    2 

What  This  Book  Is   3 

The  Combined  Drive    4 

An  Explanation  of  the  United  War  Work  Campaign..  7 

General  Pershing  Endorses  Drive   9 

Foreword    10 

Following  Him  Through   14 

Instructions  to  Speakers   21 

The  Big  Story    23 

The  American  Trooper's  Blighty   39 

Helping  to  Make  Soldiers    43 

With  the  Navy   52 

In  War  Industries   55 

Women's  Part  in  War  Work   57 

What  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  Does   60 

Work  Among  the  Allied  Forces   62 

In  Russia    67 

War  Work  Beginnings    70 

Boys'  "Earn  and  Give"  Campaign   73 

Human  Interest  Stories    77 

"Comebacks" — Answers  to   Criticisms   85 

A  Few  Samples   ;   91 

Here's  a  True  Story   92 

Two  Cablegrams    100 


2 


WHAT  THIS  BOOK  IS! 

It  is  a  birdseye  view  of  the  War  Work  of  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  It  makes  no  attempt  to  describe 
the  work  of  the  other  agencies.  Separate 
manuals  are  provided  for  that  purpose. 

It  is  a  guide  for  speakers  who  have  not  had 
direct  contact  with  all  phases  of  the  Associa- 
tion War  Work. 

It  is  a  sample  of  many  additional  figures 
and  facts  to  be  brought  up  to  date  for  the 
November  drive. 

WHAT  THIS  BOOK  IS  NOT! 

It  is  not  an  attempt  to  offer  suggestions  to 
any  man  who  has  been  overseas.  The  simple 
story  of  what  you  did  and  what  you  saw  in 
France  will  be  far  more  graphic  than  what 
can  be  written  about  it  here. 

It  is  not  an  effort  to  provide  ready  made 
speeches.  Even  the  sample  speeches  are  mere- 
ly skeletons.  Your  own  speech  is  bound  to 
be  better  for  you  than  any  delivered  second 
hand. 


3 


THE  COMBINED  DRIVE 


CAMPAIGN     FOR     $170,500,000     AUTHORIZED  BY 
LETTER  OF  PRESIDENT  WILSON  DATED 
SEPTEMBER  3 

Seven  Agencies  will  combine  during  the  week  of  Novem- 
ber 11  for  a  War  Fund  Campaign  to  raise  $170,500,000.  The 
President's  letter  and  the  budget  growing  out  of  the  com- 
bined drive  were  inserted  in  this  volume  on  September  5 
The  chapter  which  follows  this  one,  entitled  "An  Explanation 
of  the  National  War  Work  Campaign,"  referring  to  four 
organizations,  has  been  reaffirmed  and  now  applies  to  the 
seven  organizations  named. 

Organizations  for  which  the  fund  is  to  be  raised  and 
their  budgets  as  approved  by  the  War  Department  through 
the  Commission  on  Training  Camp  Activities,  of  which  Ray- 
mond B.  Fosdick  is  Chairman,  follow : 


Young  Men's  Christian  Association  $100,000,000 

Young  Women's  Christian  Association...  15,000,000 
National  Catholic  War  Council  (including 
work  of  the  Knights  of  Columbus  and 

special  war  activities  for  women)   30,000,000 

Jewish  Welfare  Board    3,500,000 

American  Library  Association   3,500,000 

War  Camp  Community  Service*   15,000,000 

Salvation  Army    3,500,000 


Total   $170,500,000 


The  letter  from  the  President  authorizing  the  combined 
campaign  for  funds,  follows : 

"The  White  House, 
"Washington,  Sept.  3,  1918. 

"My  Dear  Mr.  Fosdick: 

"May  I  not  call  your  attention  to  a  matter  which 
has  been  recently  engaging  my  thought  not  a  little? 

4 


"The  War  Department  has  recognized  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association,  the  Young  Women's 
Christian  Association,  the  National  Catholic  War 
Council,  the  Jewish  Welfare  Board,  the  War  Camp 
Community  Service,  the  American  Library  Associa- 
tion, and  the  Salvation  Army  as  accepted  instru- 
mentalities through  which  the  men  in  the  ranks 
are  to  be  assisted  in  many  essential  matters  of  rec- 
reation and  morale. 

"It  was  evident  from  the  first,  and  has  become 
increasingly  evident,  that  the  services  rendered  by 
these  agencies  to  our  army  and  to  our  allies  are 
especially  one  and  all  of  a  kind  and  must  of  necessity, 
if  well  rendered,  be  rendered  in  the  closest  co-opera- 
tion. It  is  my  judgment,  therefore,  that  we  shall 
secure  the  best  results  in  the  matter  of  the  support 
of  these  agencies,  if  these  seven  societies  will  unite 
their  forthcoming  appeals  for  funds,  in  order  that  the 
spirit  of  the  country  in  this  matter  may  be  expressed 
without  distinction  of  race  or  religious  opinion  in 
support  of  what  is  in  reality  a  common  service. 

"This  point  of  view  is  sustained  by  the  necessity, 
which  the  war  has  forced  upon  us,  of  limiting  our 
appeals  for  funds  in  such  a  way  that  two  or  three 
comprehensive  campaigns  shall  take  the  place  of  a 
series  of  independent  calls  upon  the  generosity  of 
the  country. 

"Will  you  not,  therefore,  as  Chairman  of  the  Com- 
mission on  Training  Camp  Activities,  be  good  enough 
to  request  the  societies  in  question  to  combine  their 
approaching  appeals  for  funds  in  a  single  campaign, 
preferably  during  the  week  of  Nov.  11,  so  that  in 
their  solicitation  of  funds  as  well  as  in  their  work 
in  the  field,  they  may  act  in  as  complete  co-opera- 
tion and  fellowship  as  possible? 

"In  inviting  these  organizations  to  give  this  new 
evidence  of  their  patriotic  co-operation,  I  wish  it  dis- 
tinctly understood  that  their  compliance  with  this 
request  will  not  in  any  sense  imply  the  surrender  on 
the  part  of  any  of  them  of  its  distinctive  character 
and  autonomy,  because  I  fully  recognize  the  fact  that 


5 


each  of  them  has  its  own  traditions,  principles,  and 
relationships  which  it  properly  prizes  and  which,  if 
preserved  and  strengthened,  make  possible  the  largest 

service. 

"At  the  same  time,  I  would  be  obliged  if  you  would 
convey  to  them  from  me  a  very  warm  expression  of 
the  Government's  appreciation  of  the  splendid  service 
they  have  rendered  in  ministering  to  the  troops  at 
home  and  overseas  in  their  leisure  time.  Through 
their  agencies  the  moral  and  spiritual  resources  of 
the  nation  have  been  mobilized  behind  our  forces  and 
used  in  the  finest  way,  and  they  are  contributing 
directly  and  effectively  to  the  winning  of  the  war. 

"It  has  been  gratifying  to  find  such  a  fine  spirit  of 
co-operation  among  all  the  leaders  of  the  organiza- 
tions I  have  mentioned.  This  spirit  and  the  pa- 
triotism of  all  the  members  and  friends  of  these 
agencies,  give  me  confidence  to  believe  that  the  united 
war  work  campaign  will  be  crowned  with  abundant 
success. 

"Cordially  and  sincerely  yours, 

"Woodrow  Wilson/' 


6 


AN  EXPLANATION  OF  THE 
UNITED  WAR  WORK  CAMPAIGN 

Appended  you  will  find  a  printed  copy  of  the  memorandum 
of  agreements  adopted  August  13  and  15,  relating  to  the 
merger  campaign : 

''Memorandum  of  Agreement  Regarding  the  United  War  Work  Cam- 
paign as  Prepared  and  Approved  by  the  Chairmen  of  the  Campaign 
Committee  of  the  National  War  Work  Council  of  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Associations,  of  the  Campaign  Committee  of  the  War  Work 
Council  of  the  National  Board  of  the  Young  Women's  Christian  As- 
sociations, of  the  National  Finance  Committee  of  the  War  Camp 
Community  Service,  and  of  the  Library  War  Council  of  the  American 
Library  Association. 

I 

(Adopted  August  is,  1918) 

"Seven  distinct  organizations  have  been  recognized  by  the  Govern- 
ment for  service  with  the  troops — the  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation, the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association,  the  National 
Catholic  War  Council  (Knights  of  Columbus),  the  Jewish  Welfare 
Board,  the  War  Camp  Community  Service,  the  American  Library  As- 
sociation, and  the  Salvation  Army.  Each  of  these  organizations  is 
supported  by  private  subscriptions,  and  each  has  planned  a  campaign 
for  funds   on  a  national  basis   for  some  period   between  September, 

1918,  and  February,  1919.  It  has  become  increasingly  apparent  that 
seven  such  campaigns  cannot  be  conducted  in  the  period  named  without 
serious  overlapping  and  conflict,  to  say  nothing  of  the  confusion  into 
which  communities  would  be  thrown  by  a  series  of  drives  following 
one  another  in  quick  succession,  each  with  its  own  machinery  and 
administrative  personnel  and  each  for  objects  involving  the  serving 
of  the  American  Army  and  Navy.  This  is  particularly  true  in  view  of 
the  fact  that  a  Liberty  Loan  Drive  has  been  scheduled  for  October, 
and  the  whole  question  has  been  presented  whether  a  combination 
campaign  on  the  part  of  some  or  all  of  the  societies  above  named 
might  not  simplify  the  task  which  they  are  jointly  bearing  and  give 
the  country  an  opportunity  to  contribute  at  one  time  to  what  is  in 
reality  a  common  cause. 

"Differences  in  fiscal  periods  between  the  societies  named,  as  well 
as  divergencies  in  financial  needs,  make  it  difficult  to  effect  such  a 
result  for  all  seven  societies.  It  has  been  agreed,  however,  between 
representatives  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  the  Young 
Women's  Christian  Association,  the  War  Camp  Community  Service, 
and  the  American  Library  Association  to  conduct  a  joint  campaign 
during  the  week  beginning  November  11,  and  we  are  informed  by  Mr. 
Raymond  B.  Fosdick,  who  represents  the  War  Department  in  the 
matter,  that  the  three  other  organizations,  the  National  Catholic  War 
Council,  the  Jewish  Welfare  Board,  and  the  Salvation  Army  have 
agreed  to  join  in  a  common  campaign  to  be  carried  on  in  January, 

1919.  This  plan  will  therefore  result  in  two  national  drives  instead 
of  seven. 


7 


"The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  the  Young  Women's  Chris- 
tian Association,  the  War  Camp  Community  Service,  and  the  American 
Library  Association  do  not  attempt  to  dictate  to  the  communities  how 
the  money  collected  during  the  week  of  November  nth  shall  be  raised. 
It  is  strongly  urged,  however,  that  the  local  representatives  of  the  four 
societies  unite  their  machinery  in  single  committees  so  that  the  cam- 
paign will  take  on  the  appearance  not  of  four  drives  conducted  the 
same  week,  but  of  a  common  drive  in  which  all  take  part. 

II 

(Adopted  August  15,  igi8) 
"It  is  agreed  by  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  the  Young 
Women's   Christian    Association,    the   War   Camp   Community  Service 
and  the  American  Library  Association 

1.  That  there  shall  be  a  joint  campaign  for  funds  during  the  week 
beginning  November  11,  1918. 

2.  That  by  joint  campaign  we  mean,  so  far  as  it  can  be  brought 
about,  a  campaign  undertaken  through  the  agency  of  consolidated  com- 
mittees rather  than  four  separate  campaigns  in  the  same  week. 

3.  That  each  society  will  adopt  a  joint  pledge  card. 

4.  That  the  committee  organization  now  installed  throughout  the 
country  for  the  collection  of  funds  be  disturbed  as  little  as  possible, 
and  that  the  policy  of  addition  rather  than  elimination  be  advised. 

5.  That  in  so  far  as  the  campaign  has  a  name  it  shall  be  called  the 
"United  War  Work  Campaign"  followed  by  the  names  of  the  four 
organizations  participating. 

6.  That  Mr.  Cleveland  H.  Dodge  be  the  national  treasurer  and  that 
the  moneys  collected  in  the  States  be  paid  to  him  for  proper  distribution 
among  the  societies. 

7.  That  all  funds  collected  be  distributed  on  a  pro  rata  basis  among 
the  four  societies  participating  in  the  campaign;  that  is,  the  funds 
received  shall  be  divided  among  the  participating  organizations  in  such 
proportion  as  the  total  budget  of  each  organization  bears  to  the  sum 
total  of  the  combined  budgets.  The  budget  estimates  and  percentages 
are  as  follows: 

Y.  M.  C.  A  $100,000,000.  ..  75  percent 

W.  C.  C.  S   15,000,000. ..  1 1.22  " 

Y.  W.  C.  A   15,000,000.  ..  1 1.22  " 

A.  L.  A   3,500,000...  2.56  " 

8.  That  specified  or  restricted  subscriptions  shall  not  be  asked  for. 
but,  if  given,  shall  be  credited  to  the  particular  association,  such  amount 
to  be  a  part  of  the  total  and  not  an  addition  to  it. 

9.  That  the  advertising  which  each  organization  has  planned  for 
itself  proceed  as  planned,  but  that  some  advertising  be  advised  in  the 
name  of  the  United  War  Work  Campaign. 

10.  That  the  expenses  incurred  in  joint  work  in  connection  with  the 
drive  be  paid  on  a  pro  rata  basis. 

11.  That  Mr.  George  W.  Perkins  and  Dr.  John  R.  Mott  for  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association;  Mrs.  Henry  P.  Davison  for  the 
Young  Women's  Christian  Association;  Honorable  Myron  T.  Herrick 
for  the  War  Camp  Community  Service;  Mr.  Frank  A.  Vanderlip  for 
the  American  Library  Association;  and  Mr.  John  D.  Rockefeller,  Jr., 
Chairman  of  the  Great  Union  Drive  for  New  York  City,  and  Mr.  Cleve- 
land H.  Dodge  as  Treasurer  ex  officio,  act  together  under  the  chair- 
manship of  Mr.  Raymond  B.  Fosdick  of  the  Commission  on  Training 
Camp  Activities  of  the  War  Department,  or  their  alternates,  in  settling 
any  questions  between  the  four  organizations  participating  in  this  agree- 
ment or  in  handling  any  arrangements  which  have  to  be  dealt  with 
jointly." 

8 


GENERAL  PERSHING  INDORSES 

DRIVE 

"A  sense  of  obligation  for  the  varied  and  useful  service 
rendered  to  the  Army  in  France  by  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  prompts  me  to  join  in  the  appeal  for 
its  further  financial  support.  I  have  had  opportunity  to 
observe  its  operations,  measure  the  quality  of  its  personnel 
and  mark  its  beneficial  influence  upon  our  troops,  and  I  wish 
unreservedly  to  commend  its  work  for  the  army." 

(Signed)  Pershing. 

GENERAL  PETAIN  COMMENDS 
"Y"  WORK 

"I  have  approved,  some  time  ago,  the  propositions  made  by 
the  Work  of  the  'Foyers  du  Soldat'  for  the  organization 
of  a  hundred  new  Foyers. 

"During  the  two  years  of  its  working,  this  enterprise  has 
rendered  incontestable  services,  offering  to  the  soldiers'  some 
welfare  and  comfort  during  their  sojourn  in  the  Cantonments 
of  rest. 

"At  this  time,  when  with  the  aid  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  our 
American  Allies  are  preparing  to  participate,  more  largely 
still  than  in  the  past,  in  the  organization  of  Foyers  du  Soldat, 
I  seize  the  occasion  to  inform  you  that  I  am  disposed  to 
facilitate,  in  every  way  possible,  a  new  extension  of  this 
work  in  the  zone  of  our  Armies. 

"Asking  you  to  be,  with  your  Collaborators  and  Friends, 
French  and  American,  the  interpreter  of  the  grateful  sen- 
timents of  our  troops,  I  beg  you,  Sir,  to  accept  the  assurance 
of  my  highest  consideration." 

(Signed)  Petain. 

GEN.  DIAZ  PRAISES  "Y" 

"May  I  express  in  the  name  of  my  troops,  my  most  sin- 
cere and  heartfelt  admiration  of  the  continuous  benefits  ren- 
dered to  the  Italian  army  by  Case  de  Soldato  of  Y.  M.  C.  A." 

(Signed)  Diaz. 


9 


FOREWORD 

A  BIRDSEYE  VIEW  OF  THE  SCOPE  OF  Y.  M.  C.  A. 

WAR  WORK 

The  war  work  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A  is  a  stupendous  enter- 
prise.   Moreover,  it  is  unique. 

In  a  superlative  war  it  reflects  the  superlative.  In  no  pre- 
vious war  was  such  a  project  undertaken  on  such  a  scale. 
It  soon  became  so  useful,  so  indispensable,  that  it  grew,  and 
still  is  growing,  far  beyond  the  limits  planned. 

This  form  of  war  work  was  an  American  idea.  The  best 
proof  of  its  value  was  the  way  the  Allied  nations  seized  upon 
it,  and  France  and  Italy  soon  asked  that  similar  work  be 
done  among  their  armies.  Meanwhile  the  British  and  Cana- 
dian "Y"  work  has  been  developing  in  the  English  army. 

Remember,  always,  that  the  "Y"  work  is  not  extraneous. 
It  is  not  superimposed  upon  the  fighting  forces.  It  is  not 
working  at  cross  purposes,  or  even  at  other  purposes  than 
the  armies  which  it  serves.  Primarily  it  is  being  employed 
as  a  righteous  force  to  help  win  a  righteous  war. 

A  sober  soldier,  a  clean  soldier,  a  contented  soldier,  makes 
the  best  fighting  man.  The  "Y"  aids  the  man  in  uniform  to 
become  that  kind  of  soldier. 

General  Foch  has  a  favorite  slogan,  "Battles  are  won  or 
lost  the  day  before  the  fighting."  The  "Y"  is  fighting  these 
battles  of  "the  day  before."  It  is  smashing  at  the  strong- 
hold of  booze,  immorality,  and  despondency. 

The  grim,  out  and  out  military  man,  Napoleon  counted 
the  factor  of  morale  as  3  to  1.  General  Pershing  has  said, 
"Give  us  nine  men  and  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  we  will  have  a 
more  effective  fighting  force  than  as  though  we  had  ten 
men  without  the  Y.  M.  C.  A."  That  is,  900  men  plus  the 
"Y"  equals  1,000.  Every  million  men  in  France  is  reinforced 
by  the  "Y"  with  the  equivalent  of  more  than  100,000.  This 
is  not  Association  calculation,  but  General  Pershing's. 

The  American  soldier,  sailor,  or  marine  cannot  miss  the 
"Y"  at  any  stage,  even  if  he  wants  to.  And  thousands  upon 
thousands  of  letters  home  show  that  he  does  not  want  to. 


10 


Analyzed,  most  complaints  about  the  "Y"  sift  down  to  pro- 
tests against  the  lack  at  some  points  of  the  services  the  "Y" 
offers  at  others. 

To  make  this  service  uniform,  complete,  and  universal 
rests  with  the  American  people.  Their  readiness  to  meet  the 
demands  of  the  American  fighting  man — not  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
— will  be  gauged  by  their  contributions  to  this  campaign 
fund. 

Keep  this  point  clear:  It  is  the  man  in  the  uniform  who 
wants  this  $100,000,000.  The  "Y"  simply  is  trying  to  help  him 
get  it. 

All  that  is  said  here  about  the  soldier  applies  to  the  sailor 
and  marine.   It  is  difficult  to  talk  of  all  of  them  at  once. 

The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  first  touches  the  drafted  man,  not  yet  in 
uniform,  in  those  hours  of  depression  and  homesickness  that 
assail  the  most  stout-hearted  after  he  has  said  goodbye  to 
family  and  friends,  and  boarded  a  train  for  camp. 

The  "Y"  awaits  the  rookie  at  camp  and  gives  the  one 
human  touch  amid  the  machine  like  precision  and  discipline 
which  he  is  apt  at  first  to  consider  as  a  cold,  bloodless  process. 

Throughout  his  training  it  does  not  pamper  him,  but  it 
strengthens,  stimulates,  and  fortifies  him.  To  repeat,  it 
makes  a  better  soldier  of  him.  If  it  does  not  the  com- 
manding officer  would  rout  it  out  of  his  cantonment  or 
camp,  bag  and  baggage.  If  you  don't  believe  the  "Y"  has 
a  place  in  camp  or  on  the  fighting  line  you  don't  believe  the 
American  officers  know  their  business.  It  goes  there  only 
by  their  invitation  and  remains  with  their  consent. 

The  young  American  goes  next  to  a  port  of  embarkation. 
He  has  been  active  in  civilian  life,  working  hard  and  play- 
ing hard.  He  has  been  even  more  strenuous  in  the  crowded 
days  of  intensive  training.  Now  he  faces  a  trip  overseas, 
on  a  crowded  transport.  Long,  idle  hours  carry  germs  of 
home  sickness.  The  reaction  is  apt  to  be,  "Is  it  worth 
while?"  Can't  you  see  how  the  "Y"  man  may  be  of  inesti- 
mable service  on  the  transport? 

In  France — a  new  environment,  new  language,  new  cus- 
toms. He  faces  problems  outside  his  military  life.  Here  is 
fought  the  great  battle  of  "the  day  before,"  of  many  days 
before.  The  triple  enemy,  booze,  gambling,  loneliness,  keep 
up  their  barrage  fire  while  the  man  is  waiting,  waiting,  wait- 


11 


ing.  The  unrelieved  monotony  is  deadly.  Then  come  the 
actual  fighting  and  the  need  for  ministry.  After  that  the 
heavy  artillery  of  all  the  evil  spirits  that  a  Hun  could  con- 
jure— that  reaction  from  excitement  and  strain,  when  tired 
body  and  fagged  mind  respond  only  to  the  most  elemental 
instincts,  which  also  are  the  most  animal.  Testimony  is  over- 
whelming that  here  the  "Y"  has  done  some  of  its  most 
effective  work.  In  the  most  literal  sense  it  has  been  a 
>avior  of  men.  And  that  means,  in  military  phrase,  a  con- 
server  of  man  power  to  fight  the  battles  of  those  who  must 
stay  at  home. 

Trembling,  nerve  racked,  either  keyed  to  an  abnormal  pitch, 
or  in  a  daze  from  nerve  exhaustion,  the  soldier  comes  back 
from  an  engagement.  The  "Y"  holds  out  a  welcome  hand. 
It  takes  him  under  its  wing,  when  he  most  needs  it.  It  helps 
him  back  to  normal,  mentally  and  physically. 

While  the  fight  is  on  it  stays  with  him.  "Y"  men  have 
returned  who  have  had  miraculous  escapes.  Others  have 
been  wounded,  some  killed. 

The  "Y"  work  in  the  German  prison  camps  literally  has 
saved  thousands  of  lives.  The  work  among  the  convalescents 
alone  is  an  epic  of  kindness  and  mercy. 

Important  as  is  the  "Y"  work  for  the  American  soldier, 
sailor,  and  marine,  this  is  not  its  sole  task. 

Testimony  of  the  highest  French  and  Italian  military 
authorities  proves  the  great  value  of  the  Association  in  help- 
ing maintain  the  morale  of  these  Allies. 

In  Russia  the  Association  has  been  a  major  force  in  the 
program  of  economic,  industrial,  and  moral  support  under- 
taken by  President  Wilson.  The  opportunities  for  further 
service  there  grip  the  imagination  and  lay  a  burden  of  highest 
responsibility  upon  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  the  American  people 
upon  whom  depends  the  degree  of  service  the  "Y"  can 
render. 

In  Macedonia,  in  Albania,  in  Turkey,  in  East  Africa. 
Mesopotamia,  India  and  Egypt,  in  Palestine,  Siberia  and 
Japan,  and  at  every  point  where  the  flags  of  the  Allies  fly, 
the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  is  doing  war  work.  Its  field  of  activitv 
encircles  the  globe. 

Speakers  in  this  campaign  should  inform  themselves  fully 
from  this  manual,  and  from  other  literature,  about  the  tre- 


12 


mendous  sweep  and  scope  of  the  War  Work  program.  Let 
it  grip  your  own  imagination  and  your  enthusiasm.  Then 
only  will  you  be  able  to  impart  the  story  to  your  audiences. 
Then  only  can  you  make  your  audiences  realize  how  truly 
the  responsibility  for  continuing  and  extending  and  intensi- 
fying the  service  rests  upon  them. 


13 


FOLLOWING  HIM  THROUGH 


HOW  THE  LONG  ARM  OF  THE  T  REACHES  THE 
MAN  IN  UNIFORM  WHEREVER  HE  GOES 

The  "Y"  follows  the  flag.  But  it  does  not  stop  at  that. 
It  follows  the  man. 

It  follows  him  even  if  he  falls  into  a  German  prison  camp. 
But  in  most  cases  it  will  go  with  him  to  the  front  and  back 
home  again. 

The  trail  of  the  "Y"  is  long.  It  encircles  the  globe.  It 
ranges  over  the  seven  seas.  It  is  anchored  firmly  on  every 
continent. 

The  "Y"  doesn't  wait  to  meet  the  man  half-way.  It  goes 
with  the  drafted  man  on  his  train  to  camp.  It  meets  the 
marine  at  his  training  quarters;  it  greets  the  sailor  at  his 
home  port. 

The  troop  train  meeting  is  brief.  Like  most  introductions, 
it  is  important.  Many  men  on  these  trains  are  homesick. 
Others  are  anxious  and  fearful  in  the  face  of  a  new  expe- 
rience. A  few  seize  upon  their  last  hours  out  of  uniform 
for  a  final  "fling."  Others  are  curious  about  their  new  ad- 
venture. 

Tact  has  helped  the  "Y"  man  combat  gambling  and 
drink.  Cheer  has  dispelled  the  depressing  aftermath  of  leave 
takings.  A  readiness  to  answer  questions  has  been  helpful 
to  men  who  knew  little  of  "what  to  do  next"  when  they 
reached  camp. 

Moreover  the  train  trips  give  the  "Y"  men  opportunity  to 
invite  the  recruits  to  the  "Y"  hut  at  the  camp. 

Camp  life  is  an  unopened  book  to  most  men  who  go  there. 
It  has  peculiar  temptations.  m 

"The  sins  and  temptations  of  soldiers  as  well  as  their  vir- 
tues are  seldom  subtle.  Generally  they  are  elementary  and 
passionate.  Their  hearts,  flung  open  to  the  world,  are  readier 
for  influence  than  they  have  ever  been  before.  Their  minds 
freed  from  all  questions  as  to  what  they  shall  eat  or  what 
they  shall  drink  or  wherewithal  they  shall  be  clothed — for 
the  army  arranges  all  that  for  the  soldier — puts  him  to  bed 


14 


at  night,  awakens  him  in  the  morning  and  maps  out  the  hours 
of  his  day  by  schedule — are  like  empty  houses  swept  and 
garnished,  ready  for  the  entrance  of  whatever  spirits  may 
come,  whether  good  or  bad. 

"Imagine  this  reconstructed  human  nature  in  a  tent  at 
camp.  Suddenly  he  is  removed  from  all  with  which  he  is 
familiar  and  set  among  entirely  new  surroundings.  He  has 
long  evenings  with  nothing  to  occupy  his  hours  and  no  com- 
fortable place  in  which  to  spend  them.  There  comes  the 
first  opportunity  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association." 

To  this  stranger,  most  literally  in  a  strange  land,  the  "Y" 
holds  forth  a  friendly  hand.  It  meets  the  opportunity,  not 
by  preaching,  but  by  serving. 

The  service  may  range,  on  its  physical  side,  from  selling 
a  postage  stamp  to  planning  a  wedding  ceremony,  which  has 
been  done  to  the  extent  of  obtaining  a  license,  a  clergyman, 
and  a  room  for  the  couple. 

Each  service  makes  a  point  of  personal  contact.  That 
affords  the  "Y"  man  the  chance  for  the  type  of  service  most 
needed — the  spiritual  sort.  The  word  is  not  used  in  any  nar- 
row sense.  It  may  mean  a  smile,  a  cheery  greeting,  a  slap 
on  the  back,  a  conference  about  personal  problems,  and  the 
way  the  men  pour  their  confidences  into  the  ears  of  one  who 
has  time  to  listen,  attests  the  need. 

Three  things  are  desired  by  practically  all  men  in  camp. 
They  want  a  chance  to  write  letters,  to  meet  friends,  and 
to  hear  music.  Hence  there  is  no  time  lost  in  "setting  up" 
the  "Y"  work. 

jpYom  these  the  group  activities  may  broaden  into  enter- 
tainments, lectures,  athletics,  motion  picture  programs,  group 
parties  to  visit  homes,  educational  classes,  and  other  special 
work  as  the  need  is  evident. 

From  camp  the  soldier  in  the  making  goes  to  a  point  of 
embarkation.  Here,  two  conditions,  congestion  and  tempta- 
tion, caused  much  concern  in  the  early  days  of  speeding  troops 
across  the  sea.  At  times  men  slept  on  floors,  and  some 
walked  the  streets  all  night.  Food  and  drink  aside  from  that 
furnished  them  by  the  army  often  were  germ  laden.  Vicious 
women  swarmed  about. 

The  "YM  soon  "spotted"  the  danger  point.  It  built  "huts" 
to  accommodate  the  men,  and  divert  them.    It  gave  them  a 

15 


place  to  write  that  last  letter.  It  held  out  inducements  for 
a  happy  leave-taking  of  their  home  shores.  The  government 
took  a  hand  in  "cleaning  up"  these  places.  But  preventative 
work  needs  to  be  supplanted  by  combative  "Y"  work. 

Because  of  military  censorship  little  has  been  said  about 
one  of  the  most  important  phases  of  the  Association  effort 
this  side  of  France.    That  is  the  work  aboard  the  transports. 

Crowded  into  every  available  square  foot  of  space,  with  no 
diversions,  the  men  have  little  to  do  but  think.  Reaction 
from  the  excitement  of  leaving  the  good  old  U.  S.  A.,  from 
the  strenuous  work  of  the  training  period,  nourish  germs  of 
homesickness,  with  no  physical  activity  to  combat  it.  There  is 
the  constant  tension  of  concern  about  the  U-boat.  Throw  in 
seasickness,  and  you  have  a  picture  of  an  unhappy  lot  of 
men. 

"Y"  men  have  devised  games  for  the  limited  deck  space 
available.  Letter  writing,  entertainments,  motion  pictures, 
concerts,  French  lessons,  phonographs,  and  boxing  help  fill 
the  long,  idle  hours.  Not  only  to  the  soldier  passengers  but 
to  the  officers  and  men  of  the  transports  have  the  "Y"  pro- 
grams been  a  boon.    One  secretary  wrote : 

"The  tirelessness  of  officers  and  crew  is  remarkable.  When 
the  badges  for  bravery  are  given,  the  officers  and  sailors  who 
make  these  hazardous  trips,  carrying  safely  the  precious  men 
to  fight  at  the  front  should  not  be  forgotten.  At  the  front 
a  man  is  rewarded  for  saving  a  life  by  risking  his  own; 
almost  hourly  these  men  risk  the  watery  grave  to  save  thou- 
sands and  never  think  of  reward." 

Generals  in  charge  of  regiments  that  have  crossed  have 
commented  in  official  reports  to  the  War  Department  on  the 
"Y"  work  in  this  fashion : 

"The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  representatives  on  board  have  contributed 
much  to  the  enjoyment  and  contentment  of  all  on  board." 

The  verdict  of  the  men  is  reflected  unconsciously  by  a 
secretary  who  wrote,  in  a  report  not  intended  for  publica- 
tion, "We  have  had  a  strenuous  week  and  thought  we  might 
get  some  much  needed  rest  Sunday  afternoon  in  our  room, 
but  the  men  have  found  a  way  to  get  to  us,  and  they  keep 
the  trail  hot  with  many  needs ;  some  simply  want  to  be  with 
us,  as  they  realize  that  we  are  their  friends." 

Then  comes  France!    The  land  of  the  dreams  of  many  a 


16 


man  in  the  A.  E.  F.  may  still  be  a  mirage  though  he  is  on 
her  soil.    One  of  "Pershing's  Fifty"  said  this: 

"What  of  France?  I  hope  to  see  it  some  day.  My  chief 
impression  on  the  way  to  the  front  is  travel  in  cattle  cars 
and  billets  in  barns.  It  gives  one  a  funny  feeling — this 
thing  of  being  on  the  way  but  not  knowing  at  all  where  he 
is  going.  It  isn't  good  form  to  ask  many  questions  either. 
Sometimes  we  would  travel  for  hours  and  have  not  the  least 
idea  of  our  destination.  Nor  would  stops  at  stations  mean 
we  could  look  around  the  town." 

For  the  men  waiting  in  camps  to  go  to  the  front;  for  the 
hundreds  of  thousands  engaged  on  work  back  of  the  lines, 
France  is  infinitely  more  monotonous  than  training  camps 
here.  Paris  is  closed  to  the  soldiers  on  leave.  To  the  vast 
majority  other  cities  are  inaccessible.  The  French  small 
town  affords  no  amusements ;  usually  not  even  an  audi- 
torium of  any  kind  in  which  to  "start  something."  Only  the 
wine  shops  seem  to  offer  welcome.  The  righting  front  is  the 
big  adventure  in  France,  and  only  one  man  in  nine  ever 
gets  there. 

Hence  the  "Y"  huts.  Hence  the  "Over  There"  Theatre 
League,  with  many  stars  generally  reluctant  to  go  far  from 
Broadway,  playing  one  night  stands,  and  often  setting  their 
own  scenery,  or  doing  without.  Hence  Aix-les-Bains,  erst- 
while gambling  resort,  now  a  wonder  spot  and  play  place  for 
the  American  soldier.  The  French  and  British  have  chances 
to  visit  home  and  friends.  The  American  is  3,000  miles  away 
from  home,  to  stay  until  the  war  is  won. 

Let  an  unbiased  observer  tell  a  story  of  the  need  for  the 
"Y"  and  give  a  word  picture  of  what  it  is  doing  in  France. 
The  following  are  extracts  from  an  article  on  "The  Red  Tri- 
angle Under  Fire"  in  "Vogue"  for  June  15. 

"In  that  monstrous  alien  world,  there  is  one  force,  and 
only  one,  that  is  permitted  to  follow  our  boys  right  up  to  the 
front  line  trenches ;  to  keep  their  war-sick  souls  in  touch  with 
faraway  America  and  all  its  healing,  normal  activities ;  to 
be  to  them  home,  club,  church,  college,  theatre,  ball  park, 
moving  picture  house,  and  department  store ;  to  give  them  the 
first  stamp  for  home  and  the  last  cake  of  chocolate  before 
they  go  under  fire — the  Y.  M.  C.  A. 

"A  man  by  the  name  of  Pershing  expressed  his  apprecia- 


17 


tion  no  less  loudly,  though  in  his  own  characteristic  manner, 
by  giving  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  an  extra  weight  of  responsibility 
amounting  to  the  transaction  of  22,000,000  dollars'  worth  of 
extra  business  annually.  The  ubiquitous  "huts"  were  already 
in  ninety-five  per  cent,  of  the  places  where  three  hundred  or 
more  men  were  located.    .    .  . 

"The  'Y'  may  have  winked  rapidly  and  swallowed  a  few 
gasps  of  astonishment,  but  it  turned  to  its  official  desk  in 
the  new  Equitable  Trust  Building  on  the  corner  of  Forty- 
fifth  Street  and  Madison  Avenue  and  began  writing  out  its 
orders  for  April,  May  and  June.  The  first  item  was  2,850 
tons  of  sugar,  followed  by  such  unexpectednesses  as  ten  tons 
of  tooth-paste,  four  tons  of  shaving  sticks,  sixty  tons  of 
chewing  gum  and  1,337  tons  of  cigarettes  and  tobacco.  Fifty 
tons  each  of  chocolates,  gumdrops  and  lemon  drops  came  in 
one  consignment.  The  boys  liked  the  last  named  candies  so 
much  that  the  "Y"  contracted  for  the  whole  output  of  the 
lemon-drop  factory,  which  quietly  went  out  of  business  so  far 
as  mere  stay-at-home  Americans  were  concerned.  An  examina- 
tion of  the  Post  Exchange  price  list  shows  that  in  most 
instances  articles  made  on  this  side  of  the  water  cost  no 
more  to  the  soldier  in  France  than  to  the  civilian  here.  In 
some  cases  they  cost  less.  And  this  despite  the  fact  that 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  goods  to  the  amount  of  twenty  thousand  dollars 
were  lost  on  one  ship  alone. 

"But  the  sixty-ton-gum  salesman  is  merely  one  of  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.'s  disguises.  It  is  also  the  biggest  moving  pic- 
ture exhibitor  in  the  world,  with  seven  and  a  half  million 
feet  of  films  weekly,  for  needs  on  this  side  of  the  water. 

"When  it  comes  to  a  consideration  of  the  efforts  of  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  in  the  world  of  sport,  there  is  no  way  of  ex- 
pressing one's  appreciation  of  what  the  organization  is  doing. 
If  the  men  in  the  big  Y.  M.  C.  A.  camps,  fresh  from  home, 
need  baseball  and  can  be  kept  contented  and  out  of  mischief 
by  means  of  it,  one  can  realize  how  much  more  necessary  it 
is  when  these  same  men  come  back  from  the  front  line  to 
temporary  rest  billets  in  France.  Any  man  who  has  been 
in  hell  for  two  weeks  is  a  sick  man  and  should  be  treated 
as  such,  whether  or  not  he  has  been  certified  physically  unfit — 
or  so  at  least  our  friends  the  allies  have  come  to  believe. 
The  iron  drill  routine  is  relaxed;  the  tension  is  deliberately 


18 


taken  off,  but  without  healthful  ways  of  straightening  his 
nerves  by  working  his  muscles,  the  man  is  in  quite  as  much 
danger  as  that  produced  by  any  5.9's  or  whizz  bangs.  The 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  counts  a  thousand  dollars  spent  for  boxing 
gloves,  with  which  to  equip  a  single  company,  a  mighty  good 
investment. 

'When  that  company  is  through  with  the  gloves,  they  will 
pass  them  on,  and  another  set  of  unreasonable  men  will  con- 
tentedly bang  each  others'  nerves  right  side  up.  Almost  two 
hundred  thousand  dollars  has  already  been  spent  on  athletic 
equipment. 

"It  isn't  until  one  reaches  the  work  among  the  prisoners 
in  the  Central  Empires,  however,  that  one  grasps  the  scope 
of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.'s  educational  efforts.  Among  the  English 
civilians  interned  at  Rouen  there  were  a  common  school,  a 
high  school,  and  a  University  of  seventy  chairs,  where  one 
could  learn  anything  up  to  Arabic.  A  small  chemical  labora- 
tory was  established  and  more  than  one  patentable  invention 
was  made  in  the  adjacent  machine-shop.  The  story  of  the 
work  among  the  Russians  in  Germany  will  never  be  fully 
known,  but  reading  rooms  were  established,  orchestras  were 
supplied  with  instruments  or  the  material  to  make  them, 
athletic  meets  were  organized  among  men  entirely  unaccus- 
tomed to  such  events,  and  best  of  all,  perhaps,  the  child- 
prisoners  in  uniform,  of  whom  there  were  a  surprising  and 
pitiful  number,  were  gathered  together  and  given  the  rudi- 
ments of  an  education.  It  is  not  in  any  sense  exaggeration 
to  say  that  the  American  Y.  M.  C.  A.  has  saved  life  and 
reason  for  hundreds  of  thousands  of  men  during  these  last 
mad  years. 

"We  have  been  talking  in  millions,  haven't  we,  in  our  big 
modern  way?  But  this  war,  for  all  its  terrible  scientific 
efficiency,  deals,  in  the  last  analysis,  directly  with  the  indi- 
vidual. We  may  say  that  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  ships  eight  million 
sheets  of  paper  to  France  every  month.  But  the  letter  that 
brings  conviction  to  you  personally  is  the  letter  with  the 
big  Red  Triagle  on  it  that  you  may  get  when  the  postman 
whistles.  We  may  say  too  that  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  gives  away 
— not  sells — seventy-five  thousand  cups  of  coffee  every  day. 
But  you  won't  realize  it  until  you  get  a  letter  something  like 


19 


this  one  that  came  to  a  little  white-haired  Canadian  who  had 
given  her  only  boy : 

"  'I  wish  you  and  the  people  supplying  free  hot  drinks 
could  see  the  men  coming  in  after  they've  been  relieved 
after  a  big  action.  They  would  look  to  you  like  grotesque 
scarecrows  if  you  couldn't  see  the  pathos  of  it.  Many  of 
them  have  wrapped  their  legs  in  sand-bags  to  keep  out  the 
cold.  They  are  mud  caked  literally  from  their  "tin-pots"  to 
their  water-logged  boots.  Their  shoulders  and  heads  sag 
forward,  and  they  slouch  slowly  along  with  never  a  glance 
to  left  or  right.  The  strangest  and  most  startling  thing  about 
them  is  their  faces.  Mud-smeared,  with  two  or  three  days' 
stubble  of  beard,  the  skin  shows  through  greyish  white,  set 
and  dead.  They  are  the  faces  of  corpses,  all  but  the  eyes. 
The  eyes  are  alive,  sometimes  horridly,  vividly  alive.  If  the 
tension  is  not  broken,  the  brain  may  snap.  I  certainly  believe 
that  in  thousands  of  cases  it  was  that  first  hot  drink  that 
dragged  the  men  back  to  life  and  sanity. 

"  'But  even  then  you  don't  know  what  thirst  is  till  you 
see  the  walking  wounded — men  grey  with  weariness,  shiver- 
ing with  cold,  and  at  the  same  time  burning  up  with  thirst. 
I'll  never  forget  my  first  hot  drink,  after  eight  hours'  wan- 
dering— walking  and  crawling  through  the  mud  and  the  rain — 
the  night  I  was  hit.' 

"Do  you  wonder  that  the  little  Canadian,  herself  a  poor 
woman,  went  out  and  started  a  fund  that  raised  twenty-five 
thousand  dollars  for  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  to  turn  into  hot 
coffee?" 

Coming  back  from  the  battle-line  the  "Y"  still  is  with 
the  men  in  uniform.  If  wounded,  the  "Y"  may  be  called 
upon  to  convey  him  to  a  dressing-station  or  hospital.  In  the 
hospitals  provision  is  made  for  entertaining  the  sufferers. 
If  a  man  comes  out  unscathed  physically  he  is  bound  to  lag 
mentally  and  the  "Y"  helps  rouse  him  to  normal.  If  the 
soldier's  wounds  are  such  that  he  must  be  brought  back  to 
this  country  for  recovery,  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  still  is  by  his 
side  on  board  ship. 

The  'Y"  follows  him  through,  and  follows  him  back. 


20 


INSTRUCTIONS  TO  SPEAKERS 


Plan  your  speech  with  care.    Don't  trust  to  inspiration. 
Keep  your  speech  moving  forward.    Let  one  point  lead 
to  another. 

Never  forget  the  definite  object  of  your  speech,  which  is 
to  make  your  hearers  want  to  give  to  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  War 
Fund.    Your  success  will  be  measured  by  their  gifts. 

Fit  your  speech  to  your  audience.  Draw  illustrations  from 
things  they  know  about  and  care  about.  Consider  the  best 
appeal  to  farmers ;  to  tradesmen ;  to  professional  men,  etc. 

Be  earnest,  be  sincere,  and  you  will  be  convincing.  The 
best  speech  material  in  the  world  will  not  produce  any  effect 
unless  it  is  blended  with  personal  force  and  enthusiasm. 

Keep  rigidly  within  the  time  allotted  you. 

Be  familiar  with  local  quotas  and  previous  subscriptions 
if  you  talk  about  them. 

Arouse  emotions  to  create  the  will  to  give.  To  convince 
a  man  that  something  ought  to  be  done  usually  is  not  suffi- 
cient to  compel  him  to  do  it.  Any  psychologist  will  tell  you 
that. 

Seek  not  merely  to  leave  your  audience  in  a  well  disposed 
frame  of  mind  for  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  War  Work.  Drive  your 
appeal  home  so  strongly  that  they  must  give.  Good  wishes 
do  not  help  care  for  the  men  who  are  fighting  our  battles. 

Do  not  look  upon  your  audience  as  a  mass  meeting,  but 
as  a  group  of  individual  prospects  to  each  of  whom  you  are 
trying  to  sell. 

Subject  all  your  stories  and  illustrations  to  a  double 
test:  First — Do  they  have  a  clearly  defined  point?  Second — 
Do  they  tie  up  with  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  War  Work? 

In  your  enthusiasm  for  the  American  fighting  man,  do  not 
make  comparisons  between  our  army  and  those  of  the  allies. 
We  have  done  much,  but  we  still  have  every  reason  to  be 
humble  when  we  remember  the  success  and  sacrifices  of  the 
allied  nations  for  four  years. 

You  are  not  called  upon  to  go  into  the  reasons  why  we 
entered  the  war,  nor  to  discuss  questions  of  national  policy. 


21 


The  Four  Minute  Men  are  authorized  to  do  that.  The 

Y.  M.  C.  A.  is  not. 

Each  speaker  should  know  the  general  plan  of  the  Boys* 
"Earn  and  Give"  division  of  the  United  War  Work  Cam- 
paign.   A»  full  statement  is  given  in  this  book. 

Each  speaker  should  call  the  attention  of  his  audiences  to 
the  fact  that  "a  million  boys  behind  a  million  fighters"  is 
the  slogan  of  the  "Red  Triangle  Boys"  who  are  seeking  to 
secure  one  million  boys  to  pledge  to  "earn  and  give"  at  least 
$5.00. 

Speakers  will  take  every  occasion  to  refer  to  the  par- 
ticipating organizations.  The  speaker  should  give  a  clear 
explanation  of  the  scope  of  the  War  Fund  Campaign.  Then 
he  may  deal  with  any  phase  of  it  with  which  he  is  especially 
conversant. 

To  sum  up :  Aim  for  the  bull's  eye  in  the  first  sentence. 
Arrest  the  attention  of  your  audience.  Be  plain.  To  do  so, 
use  short  sentences,  short  words,  and  shun  fine  phrases. 

Talk  to  the  back  row  of  your  audience;  you  will  hit  every- 
thing closer  in.  Talk  to  the  simplest  intelligence  in  your 
audience.    You  will  hit  everything  higher  up. 

Give  your  words  time.    A  jumbled  sentence  is  wasted. 

Don't  make  a  good  speech  and  then  kill  it  by  rambling  on. 
Stop  when  you  are  through.  Make  your  finish  sharp  and 
strong. 

Be  vivid.    Be  specific.    Be  brief. 


22 


THE  BIG  STORY 


THE  "Y"  IN  FRANCE 

FIGHTING  THE  "BATTLE  OF  THE  DAY  BEFORE" 
ON  THE  "FRONTIER  OF  FREEDOM" 

The  story  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  work  with  the  American 
Expeditionary  Forces  can  be  told  in  dollars.  That  story 
will  portray  a  notable  chronicle  of  American  big  business. 
It  will  reflect  the  striking  generosity  of  the  American  people. 

The  story  can  be  told  in  figures.  The  figures  will  disclose 
tons  of  supplies,  acres  of  buildings,  thousands  of  volunteer 
workers,  hundreds  of  gross  of  writing  paper  and  envelopes, 
and  millions  of  packets  of  chewing-gum  and  chocolate. 

Best  of  all,  it  can  be  told  in  terms  of  human  beings  and 
personal  service. 

There  was  the  Red  Triangle  man  at  Chateau-Thierry  who 
prevailed  upon  the  officers  to  let  him  stay  among  his  men. 
He  gave  a  bar  of  chocolate  here,  lit  a  "fag"  there,  aided  the 
wounded,  ministered  to  the  dying,  and  escaped  miraculously, 
though  men  were  falling  all  about  him. 

There  was  one  who  won  the  Croix  de  Guerre  by  being 
on  hand  with  his  pack  of  chocolate  and  biscuit  when  the  ad- 
vance was  so  rapid  that  field  kitchens  were  left  far  behind. 

There  was  the  preacher  of  a  fashionable  city  congrega- 
tion who  drove  an  auto  along  the  brink  of  a  trench,  throwing 
out  food  packages  and  a  "good  luck  to  you,"  to  soldiers 
about  to  go  into  action.  The  soldiers  tell  the  story  of  how 
they  cheered  and  waved  to  him  as  he  passed. 

There  was  the  young  business  man  who  nightly  drove  along 
a  20-mile  route,  exposed  to  German  shells,  his  coming  ad- 
vertised by  the  rattling  of  his  camion,  as  he  bounded,  without 
lights,  across  shell  holes  and  rocks,  never  knowing  whether 
the  low-hanging  mist  he  was  driving  into  was  just  fog  or 
German  gas. 

There  are  scores  of  "Y"  men,  not  under  fire,  but  suffer- 
ing every  discomfort,  working  day  and  night  until  they  are 
sent  home,  nerve-racked  and  exhausted,  serving  the  men  who 


23 


come  and  go  in  constantly  swelling  streams,  in  town  after 
town,  all  over  France. 

Story  upon  story  like  these  make  up  the  fabric  of  the  big 
story  of  the  "Y"  work  in  France.  It  is  a  tale  of  heroism, 
never  of  heroics.  There  are  countless  little  epics  which  will 
come  to  light  long  after  the  war  has  become  a  horrible 
nightmare  in  history. 

All  this  effort  is  worth  while  only  if  it  accomplishes  some- 
thing.   Granted,  what  has  the  "Y"  done  for  the  A.  E.  F.? 

THE  "HOME  HUTS" 

It  has  been  a  home  for  the  men. 

In  France  today  there  are  1,200  huts,  more  than  4,0G0  sec- 
retaries, of  whom  500  are  women. 

The  word  "hut"  has  an  extremely  elastic  definition.  A 
hut  may  be  a  hole  in  a  hillside,  a  dark  chamber  in  a  cave, 
or  hidden  quarry,  a  little  tent  in  a  forest  camp,  a  sumptuous 
hotel  in  a  big  city,  a  former  public  building,  or  a  great  cha- 
teau. 

When  a  newspaper  correspondent  asked  a  secretary  whether 
he  might  come  out  to  see  him,  that  secretary  gave  this  de- 
scription of  his  particular  hut : 

"Sure,  glad  to  have  you.  Lots  of  room  and  entertain- 
ment. My  house  is  3  feet  deep,  3  feet  wide,  and  7  feet  long. 
I  dug  it.  The  roof  will  keep  out  shrapnel,  I'll  guarantee 
that.    There  is  room  for  two,  if  you  don't  squirm." 

Many  little  dugouts  are  to  be  found  near  the  front  line 
where  buildings  would  soon  be  demolished. 

"It's  not  the  work,  it's  the  gas  alarms,"  said  the  secretary 
of  one  of  these,  "Three  or  four  times  a  night  I  have  to  get 
up  and  put  on  my  mask  and  keep  it  on  half  an  hour.  It 
busts  a  feller's  sleep  all  to  pieces." 

Sometimes,  where  lumber  is  not  obtainable,  the  French 
abri  tent  is  used.  With  smaller  units  an  ordinary  camp  tent 
often  houses  the  "Y." 

Gun  pit,  building,  tent,  or  what  not,  soldiers  flock  to  these 
huts.  They  read,  write,  talk,  attend  lectures,  religious  serv- 
ices, see  "movies,"  send  money  home,  buy  chocolate  and 
tobacco,  play  pianos  and  phonographs. 

Actual  requisitions  have  shown  that  more  than  a  thousand 
different  articles,  everything  from  tacks  and  hammers  to 


24 


phonographs  and  pianos  are  needed  to  equip  the  larger  huts 
with  all  that  the  soldiers  need.  Flags,  chairs,  brooms,  basins, 
Bibles,  percolators,  games,  tobacco,  knives,  forks,  spoons, 
stoves,  and  so  on  the  list  goes. 

An  estimate  places  the  number  of  pianos  at  500,  many  of 
them  obtained  from  the  kind  citizens  of  France,  and  many 
more  phonographs  than  that  are  scattered  throughout  the 
camps. 

ENTERTAINING  THE  SOLDIER 

In  these  tents  the  "Y"  has  entertained  the  soldiers. 

More  than  150  actors,  actresses,  monologists  and  musical 
entertainers  had  gone  to  France  by  July  1.  Another  hundred 
have  been  going  over  since  then. 

By  winter  there  will  be  enough  there  to  assure  every  hut 
one  performance  by  some  artist  or  group  of  artists  each 
week.  In  addition  are  the  nightly  entertainments,  by  ama- 
teurs, "movies,"  lecturers,  or  by  the  boys  themselves.  And 
the  latter  constitute  one  of  the  most  popular  forms  of  diver- 
sion. Recognizing  this  fact,  special  effort  has  been  made 
to  round  up  the  talent  among  the  men — and  in  nearly  every 
regiment  professionals  or  amateurs  of  the  first  rank  are  to 
be  found. 

The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  undertook  the  entertainment  work  follow- 
ing Gen.  Pershing's  issuance  last  summer  of  general  order 
No.  26 :  "The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  will  provide  for  the  amusement 
and  the  recreation  of  the  troops." 

E.  H.  Sothern,  Julia  Marlowe  and  Elsie  Janis  are  types  of 
the  American  stage-folk  who  have  helped  fulfil  this  order. 

"It  is  a  sight  worth  while  seeing,"  reported  one  clergyman 
who  never  attended  the  theatre  at  home,  "to  watch  the  crowd 
of  boys,  glum,  sulky  and  tired,  come  into  a  hut  and  then  see 
them  thaw  out  and  warm  up  under  Miss  Janis's  infectious 
fun-making.  Generally  she  has  them  singing,  'We  Won't  Go 
Back  Until  It's  Over  Over  Here'  with  a  pep  that  bodes  ill 
for  the  Germans  they  will  meet  the  next  day. 

"You  have  kept  my  men  from  thinking  of  to-morrow's 
battle,"  one  officer  said  as  he  left  a  hut,  "they  will  fight  better 
because  of  to-night." 

"Miss  Janis,  you  have  killed  more  Germans  than  you 
know,"  was  the  comment  of  another  officer. 


25 


"Y"  MOVIES  IN  FRANCE 

The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  is  the  biggest  motion  picture  exhibitor 
in  the  world.  During  the  April  crisis  at  Montdidier,  when 
the  French  and  American  divisions  at  that  point  were  ordered 
to  hold  the  line  at  any  cost,  the  "Y"  secretary  asked  the 
colonel  of  an  American  regiment — "What  can  the  'Y'  best 
do  for  these  divisions  ?"  The  Colonel  replied,  "We  want 
motion  pictures,  more  motion  pictures,  and  still  more  motion 
pictures." 

The  motion  picture  has  played  a  co-star  role  with  the 
steaming  hot  cup  of  chocolate  and  the  friendly  hand-grasp 
the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  holds  out  in  the  trench  to  men  who  are 
fagged  in  mind  and  body  as  they  wearily  tramp  back.  With 
the  vitalizing  drink  and  the  firm  "we  are  with  you"  grasp 
of  the  hand,  the  motion  picture  arouses  the  numbed  spirit 
and  brings  it  back  from  the  abnormal  world  of  appalling 
extremes  to  the  normal  things.  No  longer  is  the  soldier  a 
lost  soul  in  a  world  gone  mad,  for  Bobby  Jones  of  Cedar- 
ville  is  laughing  at  the  pranks  of  "Doug."  Fairbanks  or 
looking  into  the  fearless  eyes  of  Bill  Hart. 

Never  before  in  the  history  of  the  world  has  an  expedi- 
tionary force  been  able  to  carry  its  own  home  environment, 
visualized  in  action,  into  foreign  lands. 

More  than  7,000,000  feet  of  film  a  week  have  been  shown 
at  Y.  M.  C.  A.  huts  during  this  summer;  with  winter  the 
demand  for  films  will  be  even  greater. 

THE  CANTEENS 

The  Association  entered  upon  the  conduct  of  canteens  for 
the  same  reason  it  took  over  recreational  work.  General  Per- 
shing requested  it.  The  operation  of  them  has  become  one 
of  the  biggest  single  phases  of  the  "Y"  work.  Gross  sales, 
at  the  present  rate,  will  amount  to  $75,000,000  yearly. 

There  are  600  exchanges.  Monthly  there  is  shipped  from 
America  to  France  between  3,000  to  4,000  tons  of  supplies 
to  stock  them.  In  addition,  supplies  are  purchased  in  enor- 
mous quantities  in  France  and  England.  In  France  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  took  over  eight  factories.  Three  are  used  in 
making  chocolate  and  the  others  turn  out  biscuits  and  cook- 
ies. The  sugar  comes  from  the  United  States.  The  French 
provide  the  raw  chocolate. 


26 


The  American  troops  in  August  were  eating  920,000  pounds 
of  chocolate  a  month.  They  consumed  528,000  tons  of 
crackers  and  biscuits.  The  demand  for  tobacco  is  even  more 
amazing.  In  a  single  order  this  summer,  the  Association 
bought  1,337  tons  of  tobacco  of  all  kinds.  One  single  ship- 
ment included  900,000  cigars.  A  half  dozen  carloads  of 
chewing  tobacco  were  purchased  at  one  time.  Three  million 
boxes  of  matches  are  sold  over  the  counters  of  the  ex- 
changes in  thirty  days.  Soap,  safety  razors,  blades,  shoes 
strings,  chewing  gum,  candles,  various  kinds  of  brushes,  shoe 
blacking,  canned  jam,  jelly,  sardines  and  almost  anything  one 
could  buy  in  the  old  time  small-town  general  store  is  to  be 
had  in  these  exchanges. 

The  canteens  always  have  been  operated  at  cost.  No 
effort  in  any  case  has  been  made  to  get  a  profit  from  them. 
Supplies  are  given  free  to  men  in  the  front  line  trenches  both 
before  they  go  into  action  and  when  they  are  coming  out. 

On  August  1  a  new  arrangement  went  into  effect  by  which 
the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  exchanges  are  to  charge  no  higher  prices  than 
those  of  the  army  Commissaries.  Because  of  transportation  cost 
and  other  overhead  expenses  that  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  must  pay, 
which  the  army  does  not,  this  arrangement  will  cost  from 
$2,000,000  to  $3,000,000.  Nothing  is  sold  at  a  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
hut  except  the  supplies  handled  through  the  post  exchanges. 
Writing  paper,  envelopes,  use  of  buildings,  entertainments, 
paraphernalia  for  games,  education  classes,  and  all  other 
facilities  provided  for  the  soldiers  are  free. 

TRANSPORTATION 

Another  phase  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  work  in  France  of  great 
magnitude  is  the  transportation  system.  French  railways 
naturally  are  overtaxed. 

Thus,  it  became  necessary  for  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  to  obtain 
a  fleet  of  475  automobiles  and  trucks  without  which  the 
secretaries  at  the  1,200  or  more  huts  would  find  themselves 
minus  supplies,  entertainers,  lecturers,  and  cut  off  from  out- 
side communication.  The  aggregate  value  of  these  auto- 
mobiles is  nearly  $500,000.  On  August  1,  250  more  were 
needed. 

Writing  on  this  phase  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  work  in  France, 


27 


Charles  E.  Hill,  recently  secretary  of  the  Florida  State  Asso- 
ciation, upon  his  return  from  France,  said: 
»  "Few  in  America  have  any  conception  of  the  size  of  that 
Y.  M  .C.  A.  organization  overseas.  I  regarded  the  Associa- 
tion as  a  purely  religious  organization  until  I  was  summoned 
to  join  its  forces.  I  then  discovered  that  religious  activities 
were  just  one  of  thirty  activities  more  or  less.  The  'Y' 
has  hundreds  of  athletic  directors  on  the  Western  Front, 
runs  millions  of  feet  of  movie  film  a  week,  directs  hotels  and 
restaurants,  etc.  The  motor  transport  may  be  included 
among  the  'etc'  We  are  a  part  of  an  enterprise  that  will  do 
$40,000,000  worth  of  business  the  first  year  of  the  war. 
That  is  the  chain  store  business  of  the  post  exchanges,  where 
the  boys  get  their  chocolate,  tobacco,  cigarettes,  gum,  stamps 
and  the  like. 

"A  recent  order  from  Paris,  for  supplies  to  last  three 
months,  includes  sixty  tons  of  chewing  gum,  300  tons  of 
chewing  tobacco,  312  tons  of  smoking  tobacco,  600  tons  of 
cigarettes,  ten  or  twelve  tons  of  tooth-paste,  and  so  on.  We 
must  have  men  in  France  to  haul  these  supplies  from  the  great 
central  warehouses  to  the  divisional  distributing  points  and 
from  there  on  to  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  huts  in  the  camps  and  back 
of  the  lines,  and  even  up  to  the  dugouts  where  the  secretary 
nearest  the  front  does  business  in  the  second  line  trenches." 

EDUCATORS  "OVER  THERE" 

Overseas,  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  is  laying  foundations  of  a 
Khaki  College.  Military  experts  agree  that  the  better  a 
man  is  trained  mentally,  the  better  will  be  his  performance 
as  a  soldier.  Educational  work  begun  in  the  cantonments 
and  camps  in  the  United  States  is  continued  while  American 
troops  are  on  board  transports  for  Europe  and  taken  up 
again  when  they  arrive  in  France. 

In  France,  the  educational  problem  is  one  of  the  most  dim- 
cult  the  Association  has  to  face.  Not  because  there  is  no 
demand  for  this  type  of  work  among  the  soldiers,  but  be- 
cause they  move  so  rapidly  from  place  to  place,  it  is  difficult 
to  preserve  the  continuity  of  the  courses. 

But  the  study  of  French  forms  an  almost  universal  start- 
ing point  for  the  schooling  the  American  fighting  man  re- 
ceives overseas,  and  another  introduction  to  "Y"  educational 


28 


work  is  made  through  lecture  courses,  French  history,  French 
Government,  and  geographical  study  relating  to  the  terri- 
tory where  the  men  are  located. 

In  hospitals  the  educational  work  comes  into  its  own 
again.  Among  the  convalescents  there  is  plenty  of  time  and 
the  opportunity  for  mind  improvement  is  most  welcome. 

Without  doubt,  the  educational  secretaries  are  looking 
ahead  to  the  period  after  the  war  when  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  American  soldiers  will  remain  on  European  soil  for 
a  considerable  time,  and  then  they  will  be  even  more  free 
than  now  to  avail  themselves  of  the  educational  work  which 
will  enable  them  to  return  more  readily  to  peace  time  occu- 
pations that  are  worth  while. 

The  educational  work  is  formed  into  two  divisions.  One  is 
that  for  the  under-educated  and  includes  the  teaching  of 
English  to  foreigners  and  to  other  illiterates,  and  also  in- 
struction in  elementary  subjects  to  the  many  whose  school 
periods  have  been  cut  short.  The  other  division  is  the  work 
which  is  carried  on  for  the  benefit  of  those  who  are  ambi- 
tious to  perfect  themselves  in  some  special  line  either  be- 
cause they  desire  promotion,  or  because  they  are  looking 
ahead  to  the  time  when  they  shall  return  to  their  peace  time 
pursuits.  Beside  classes  in  English,  and  the  foreign  lan- 
guages, those  in  mathematics  have  been  extremely  popular. 

Harris  Dickson,  Bishop  Brent,  Professor  Mark  Baldwin 
and  Charles  Prince  have  told  our  soldiers  much  in  their 
breezy  talks  which  help  them  to  understand  the  French. 
Franklin  Edmonds,  Dr.  John  G.  Coulter,  and  men  of  that 
type,  have  furnished  them  with  an  historical  interpretation  of 
the  war.  British  lecturers  to  the  American  soldiers  have 
included  Hugh  Mcintosh,  of  Edinburgh  University;  Sir 
Arthur  Priestley,  publicist;  Professor  Fred  Simpson,  of  Uni- 
versity of  London;  and  a  long  list  of  other  noted  university 
men.  American  speakers  sent  to  British  and  French  included 
Franklin  Edmonds,  Professor  W.  S.  Naylor,  Norman  Hap- 
good  and  Herbert  Adams  Gibbons.  Other  lecturers  who  have 
contributed  to  the  understanding  and  enjoyment  of  our  own 
troops  have  been  Dr.  William  A.  Shanklin,  President  of 
Wesleyan ;  Dr.  William  H.  Crawford,  President  of  Alle- 
ghany College,  Mrs.  Rheta  Childe  Dorr,  magazine  writer, 
George  Randolph  Chester,  Reginald  Wright  Kauffman,  Dr. 

29 


Anson  Phelps  Stokes,  Mrs.  Eunice  Tietjens,  and  Elizabeth 
Shepley  Sergeant,  magazine  writer. 

The  educational  program  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  has  been 
pounded  out  under  the  white  heat  of  war.  Overseas  it  is  not 
standardized  as  yet,  but  when  plans  now  under  way  are  car- 
ried out,  it  will  become  a  great  public  school  system  with 
high  school  and  college  courses  accessible  to  every  man  in 
the  army.  It  will  be  possible  for  soldiers  to  continue  their 
studies  to  become  doctors,  lawyers,  accountants,  or  business 
or  professional  workers  in  their  fields. 

PHYSICAL  EDUCATION 

It  is  to  be  taken  for  granted  that  hard  drills,  hikes  and  the 
daily  routine  of  the  soldier  furnish  all  the  exercise  he  needs. 
But  all  of  that  is  hard  work.  In  addition  he  needs  relaxation, 
and  physical  relaxation  at  that.  It  is  not  on  record  that 
soldiers  turned  to  setting-up  exercises  or  to  military  drill  for 
developing  muscle  in  their  hours  of  leisure. 

The  soldier  is  still  human  under  his  uniform  and  in  his 
off-hours  is  just  as  anxious  to  play  football,  baseball  and 
other  games  as  he  was  in  his  peace  time  pursuits.  In  rest 
camps  and  training  camps  in  France  the  soldier  needs  health- 
ful stimulation  and  diversion  of  mind  as  well  as  body,  which 
a  wholesome  participation  in  those  games  will  give  him. 

In  the  fighting  zone  in  France,  the  work  rises  to  an  even 
greater  value.  When  men  come  out  from  under  fire  after 
days  of  intensive  righting  and  screeching  shells,  they  are  in  a 
condition  of  high  nervous  tension  which  needs  to  be  worked 
off. 

As  Joseph  H.  Odell,  writing  in  the  Outlook  for  July  31, 
puts  it :  "The  'Y'  is  needed  to  keep  the  boys  and  men  from 
going  to  the  devil  by  default  during  nerve  reactions  follow- 
ing the  red  fury  of  battle." 

These  men  have  been  fighting,  shooting,  bayoneting,  bomb- 
ing, slashing  through  wire  or  through  flesh  and  bone,  all  to 
the  fearful  accompaniment  of  machine-gun  clamor.  No  mat- 
ter how  cool  they  may  seem,  men  are  not  nerveless,  and  when 
they  emerge  from  such  an  ordeal  they  need  physical  as  well 
as  mental  relaxation. 

Where  thousands  of  American  boys  are  gathered,  there 
you  are  bound  to  find  baseball,  football,  basketball,  boxing 

30 


and  similar  sports.  Other  games  requiring  less  equipmen: 
which  can  be  more  generally  participated  in,  also  have  been 
developed,  but  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  has  bought  tons  of  athletic 
equipment  for  free  use  of  the  soldiers  who  want  most  of  all 
the  standard  American  games  and  sports  to  which  they  have 
been  accustomed.  Larger  orders  than  ever  before  placed  for 
athletic  goods  have  been  made  by  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  For  ex- 
ample, some  of  the  equipment  orders  for  overseas  use  include 
132,000  baseballs,  24,000  baseball  bats;  1,500  baseball  masks 
(not  gas);  21,000  indoor  baseballs;  2,500  catcher's  mits; 
1,500  fielder's  mits;  6,000  rugby  footballs;  8,000  soccer  balls, 
and  (don't  laugh,  for  ping  pong  is  the  rage  among  the  indoor 
sports  over  there)  21,000  ping  pong  balls. 

OVERSEAS  RELIGIOUS  WORK 

Without  prejudice  or  partiality  for  sect  or  creed,  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  stresses  a  religion  of  service  and  kindliness  in 
its  work  among  the  American  troops.  It  seeks  to  provide 
religious  services  of  the  kind  to  which  each  man  has  been 
accustomed.  The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  huts  frequently  are  the  scenes 
of  Catholic  masses  and  services  conducted  by  Jewish  rabbis. 

One  clergyman,  a  Y.  M.  C.  A.  secretary,  struck  the  key-note 
of  the  attitude  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  when  he  said  to  an  over- 
seas audience : 

"I  am  not  here  to  ask  any  of  you  men  to  change  your 
faith.  The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  seeks  only  to  help  you  to  live  up 
to  your  own  faith." 

This  secretary  then  clinched  his  argument  by  having  the 
men  join  in  singing  that  good  old  hymn,  "Faith  of  Our 
Fathers,"  and  proceeded  to  preach  a  sermon  based  on  funda- 
mental truths  which  apply  to  Jew  and  Gentile,  Catholic  and 
Protestant  alike. 

Gipsy  Smith  puts  it  this  way:  "God  is  no  longer  a  police- 
man to  these  boys.  'He  is  a  chum  who  won't  let  a  pal  down.' 
That's  the  idea  the  boys  are  getting.  The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  work 
with  the  British  Forces  has  revealed  another  view  to  the 
boys  of  Christianity.  It  is  Christ  in  earnest.  It  is  Christ  in 
every  day  life." 

Or,  as  another  preacher  put  it  when  he  had  returned  from 
eight  months  in  France :  "I  soon  found  out  that  you  can 


31 


get  religion  across  over  there  much  better  by  living  it 
than  by  preaching  it." 

If  a  man  simply  wants  to  talk  over  his  troubles  and 
difficulties,  the  Secretary  is  the  man  ready  to  listen  under- 
standing^ and  advise,  comfort,  or  help.  If  a  man  seeks  to 
know  more  of  God  and  the  hereafter,  the  Secretary  is 
ready  to  help  him. 

"Over  here  it  is  not  exactly  good  form  to  talk  about 
death,  heaven  and  such  matters,"  said  one  secretary,  a  busi- 
ness man,  "but  over  there  we  get  down  to  elemental  things 
and  these  subjects  are  discussed  freely." 

If  the  soldier  or  the  sailor  or  the  marine  is  already  a 
church  member,  the  Association  man  endeavors  to  see  that 
in  the  stress  of  his  new  life,  he  does  not  become  separated 
from  his  home  connections. 

In  pursuance  of  its  rule  of  absolute  non-sectarianism,  the 
Association  places  its  facilities  at  the  disposal  of  chaplains, 
camp  pastors,  and  in  each  hut  the  Jewish  Welfare  Board 
has  a  desk  if  it  desires.  It  also  works  in  closest  cooperation 
with  the  Knights  of  Columbus. 

In  arranging  religious  meetings,  the  religious  work  secre- 
tary consults  with  the  chaplains  and  camp  pastors,  and  on 
Sunday  morning,  many  of  the  folk  at  home  would  be  sur- 
prised to  see  Catholic  and  Protestant  services  follow  each 
other  in  the  "Y"  auditoriums. 

The  spirit  of  the  "Y"  shines  through  the  words  of  one 
worker  in  France. 

"What  sectarian  preacher  could  possibly  reach  an  audience 
of  Catholics,  Protestants  of  all  denominations,  and  Jews? 
My  boys  were  such.  But  they  can  and  must  be  reached,  and 
I  believe  in  but  one  way — by  love.  Let  these  men  once 
realize  you  are  offering  them  trust  and  affection,  no  matter 
what  the  color  of  their  souls,  and  you  have  from  them  a 
loyalty  unspeakable.  I  am  writing  from  my  own  experience 
and  I  have  no  fear  for  their  religion.  I  have  not,  without 
exception,  found  a  man  who  is  actually  facing  the  horrors 
of  this  war,  and  death  and  mutilation  worse  than  death, 
who  does  not  turn  naturally  upon  his  spiritual  side  to  the  re- 
ligion in  which  he  has  been  raised,  or  to  the  belief  he  has 
hewn  out  for  himself." 

A  man  continually  face  to  face  with  death  turns  instinc- 


32 


tively  to  the  divine  power  toward  which  every  heart  yearns. 
The  question  of  the  life  to  come  is  no  longer  a  far-away, 
unimportant  conjecture.  This  very  day  his  soul  may  go 
out  into  eternity. 

The  "Y"  speakers  who  come  with  a  message  of  hope  for 
all  men,  draw  audiences  of  eager  thousands.  In  twelve 
meetings  which  he  addressed  in  cantonments  in  this  country, 
Dr.  James  Freeman  was  heard  by  more  than  100,000  men. 

Continuing  its  work  of  spiritual  help,  the  "Y"  has  pre- 
pared more  than  50  helpful  pamphlets  for  the  fighting  man, 
in  answer  to  his  questions.  These  pamphlets  include,  "Some 
Words  of  President  Wilson  on  Religion,"  "Who  is  Jesus 
Christ?"  by  Charles  R.  Brown,  Dean  of  the  Yale  School  of 
Religion ;  "The  Beloved  Captain,"  by  Donald  Hankey ;  "Emer- 
gency Rations,"  which  contain  portions  from  the  Scriptures 
for  daily  reading,  and  similar  subjects.  During  the  past  six 
months  about  250,000  of  these  have  been  issued  to  enlisted 
men  and  during  the  year,  since  January  1,  orders  have  been 
placed  for  15,300,000.  Up  to  May  1,  589,285  copies  of  the 
Scriptures  have  been  distributed,  and  during  the  past  year 
1,200,000  have  been  given  to  the  men  of  our  fighting  forces. 

The  director  of  religious  work  in  France,  states  his  plat- 
form as  follows : 

"The  policy  at  headquarters  is  that  there  be  nothing  tricky 
about  our  religious  services;  that  they  be  conducted  without 
camouflage ;  at  regular  times  and  with  frank  announcement." 

REMITTING  MONEY 

Facilities  for  sending  money  home  is  a  great  service  to 
soldiers  and  sailors  as  well.  The  figures  show  for  two  months 
(April  and  May)  the  amount  for  each  month  of  $53.00 
per  man,  and  in  May  the  total  number  of  men  remitting 
money  through  the  Association  was  larger  than  in  the  previous 
month. 

An  average  of  10,000  remittances  a  week  now  is  being  re- 
ceived from  the  Paris  office  for  transmission  to  the  homes 
of  soldiers  in  the  United  States.  The  amounts  forwarded  in 
this  manner  up  to  August  15,  1918,  exceeded  $2,000,000.  This 
service  is  growing  by  leaps  and  bounds  because  it  is  extremely 
popular  with  the  soldiers.  Working  steadily  eight  hours  a 
day,  the  secretary  of  the  Soldiers'  Bureau  of  Remittances, 


33 


would  have  to  sign  more  than  200  checks  an  hour  by  hand,  to 
dispose  of  10.000  checks  a  week,  so  he  has  obtained  an  in- 
genious machine  which  enables  him  to  sign  4000  an  hour. 

THE  "Y"  IN  LONDON 

American  Y.  M.  C.  A.  work  in  London  is  well  organized. 
The  outstanding  feature  there  is  Eagle  hut  which  now  has  a 
world-wide  reputation.  There  are  two  Y.  M.  C.  A.  Officers' 
Clubs.  One  in  Coventry  Square  consists  of  two  fine  old 
London  residences.  The  other  club  is  Washington  Inn,  in 
a  delightful  bungalow  in  the  center  of  St.  James  square. 

The  field  work  in  England  may  be  divided  into  two  parts; 
that  for  the  troops  passing  in  and  out  of  England  and 
France,  whose  stay  in  England  never  exceeds  a  week,  and 
that  for  the  air  service  quartered  in  90  aviation  camps  under 
British  Officers.  More  than  200,000  men  pass  through  ports 
in  England  each  month  where  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  is  ready  to 
greet  them  on  their  way  to  France. 

AIX-LES-BAINS 

Aix-les-Bains  has  become  extremely  popular  with  the  sol- 
diers. At  one  time  in  July  there  were  about  1,500  men  on  leave 
at  Aix,  200  at  Chambray,  6  miles  from  Aix,  100  more  at 
Charles-les-Eaux,  9  miles  from  Aix.  Soldiers  are  quartered 
at  70  hotels  at  Aix  with  which  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  has  con- 
tracts. The  hotels  are  graded  A  and  B.  Prices  at  A  hotels 
are  15  francs  and  at  B  hotels  13  and  11  francs  per  week,  per 
man.  The  Army  pays  the  hotel  bills  which  are  rendered 
directly  to  it.  The  Casino  has  become  a  bee-hive  of  uni- 
formed men,  morning,  noon  and  night.  Till  midnight  the  boys 
are  coming  and  going.  Among  the  amusements  are  steam- 
boats on  the  lake,  swimming,  excursions  on  bicycles,  and 
coasting  down  Mt.  Revard  on  bicycles.  The  villages 
have  the  appearance  of  college  towns  with  students  in 
Khaki.  No  arrests  have  been  made,  according  to  the  present 
Provost-Marshal  since  he  went  to  Aix-les-Bains  in  March. 

PERSONNEL 

Statistics  just  released  by  the  War  Personnel  Board  show 
that  up  to  and  including  August  15,  5,739  men  and  852  women 


34 


have  been  approved  for  overseas  service.  Of  this  number 
4,210  men  have  sailed  in  previous  months,  396  during  the 
first  two  weeks  in  August.  Approximately  400  "Y"  women 
have  already  gone  over,  and  during  the  first  half  of  August, 
50  additional  women  workers  embarked. 

General  qualifications  for  war  service  with  the  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
are  set  forth  by  Dr.  Mott  as  follows : 

"We  should  send  only  men  of  Christian  character.  As  we 
do  not  go  to  engage  in  propaganda,  it  is  important  that  by 
our  lives  and  by  our  spirit  we  show  forth  that  which  is  best  in 
American  life.  They  should  be  men  of  fraternal  spirit,  able 
to  appreciate  sympathetically  religious  and  other  points  of 
view  quite  different  from  their  own,  and  able  likewise  to 
work  harmoniously  in  team  with  others.  Above  all  they 
should  be  men  who  go  with  a  dominant  desire  and  purpose  to 
render  the  maximum  of  service,  and  should  believe  with  all 
their  souls  in  the  winning  of  the  war.  I  should  not  favor 
sending  any  man  who  does  not  conscientiously  believe  he  could 
measure  up  to  these  requirements." 

The  specializations  required  of  the  personnel  are  well  illus- 
trated from  the  fact  that  there  are  twenty-one  distinct  types 
of  secretaries  now  serving  in  France  or  waiting  to  go  over- 
seas. Of  these  men  by  far  the  larger  number — 1,771  are 
"all-round"  men.  In  addition  to  these  there  are  106  over- 
seas religious  directors,  484  physical  directors,  14  railroad 
secretaries,  and  80  educational  directors.  It  takes  272  busi- 
ness secretaries  to  carry  on  the  routine  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
organization  "over  there." 

The  total  of  overseas  forces  is  divided  as  follows : 

4,327  serving  with  the  American  Expeditionary  Forces  in 
France,  540  with  the  American  forces  in  England,  and  9 
with  the  American  forces  in  Italy. 

There  are  368  American  "Y"  workers  manning  the  Foyers 
du  Soldat  in  the  French  Army,  and  165  in  the  Case  del  Soldato 
that  are  strengthening  the  morale  of  the  Italian  Army.  In 
Russia  there  are  61  American  "Y"  workers;  3  in  Africa; 
36  workers  with  Chinese  coolie-soldiers,  5  in  Egypt,  3  in 
India,  and  19  working  with  Portuguese  Expeditionary  forces 
in  France. 

The  ramifications  of  the  American  "Y"  work  are  further 
illustrated  by  the  presence  in  the  Bohemian  Army  of  1 


35 


American  Y.  M.  C.  A.  secretary,  of  3  in  the  Polish  army,  of 
1  at  Copenhagen,  1  in  the  West  Indies,  1  in  Siam,  3  in 
Switzerland,  7  in  Mesopotamia,  1  in  Palestine,  and  1  in 

Macedonia. 

All  men  entering  the  service  for  a  period  of  three  months 
or  more  in  American  camps,  receive  special  training.  More 
than  350  men  are  taking  this  training  every  month. 

A  standard  course  of  study  is  given  at  training  schools 
established  by  the  War  Work  Council  in  each  of  the  military 
departments. 

The  course  of  study  covers  the  following  subjects:  religi- 
ous problems  of  the  secretary ;  war  work  methods ;  promotion 
of  games  and  other  recreative  features ;  historical  back- 
ground of  the  war;  and  history  and  principles  of  the  Y.  M. 
C.  A. 

In  30  of  the  large  camps,  camp  training  schools  have  been 
conducted.  These  in  the  past  year  enabled  men,  who,  because 
of  emergency  entered  camp  without  the  standard  training 
school  course,  to  obtain  training  for  their  work. 

The  training  section  for  overseas  work,  affords  an  intensive 
course  in  many  lines  pertaining  to  overseas  service.  At  a 
weekly  training  conference  at  Columbia  University,  men  who 
have  come  to  New  York  for  appointment  are  given  some 
prevision  of  the  work  to  be  done  overseas.  Men  who 
finish  the  Columbia  conference  are  required  immediately  to 
enter  a  continuation  conference.  They  do  not  have  military 
drill  except  on  Saturday,  and  give  two  periods  each  day  to 
French,  or  some  other  language  exercises. 

Men  who  have  completed  the  work  of  the  Columbia  con- 
ference, and  the  continuation  conference,  may  then  be  assigned 
to  specialized  courses  of  instruction,  such  as  motor  trans- 
port school;  school  for  musical  training;  or  the  transport 
school. 

Under  the  auspices  of  the  Woman's  Division  of  the  War 
Personnel  Board,  a  training  school  for  workers  has  been 
established  at  Barnard  College,  Columbia  University. 

In  a  recent  group  of  about  125  men  in  training  for  over- 
seas, the  highest  number  recruited  from  any  one  occupation 
was  15.  Those  were  salesmen.  From  59  other  occupations 
and  professions,  representatives  included  architects,  bankers, 
civil  engineers,  court  officials,  clergymen,  letter-carriers,  news- 


36 


paper  men,  farmers,  surveyors,  a  geologist,  a  numismatist 
and  a  sign  painter. 

The  women's  roster  shows  as  great  a  diversion  in  occu- 
pations. During  the  same  week  at  Barnard  College  con- 
ference, there  were  business  women  of  various  types,  house- 
wives, clerks,  dressmakers,  librarians,  nurses,  social  workers, 
teachers  and  secretaries. 

Among  the  men  who  have  gone  abroad  for  the  Y.  M.  C.  A., 
the  following  few,  picked  here  and  there  as  the  eye  runs 
down  the  list  will  serve  as  an  example  of  the  type  of  men : 

The  late  Dr.  Luther  H.  Gluick,  who  died  after  his  return  in 
August,  was  one  of  the  most  enthusiastic  Y.  M.  C.  A.  workers 
in  overseas  service.  Dr.  Gulick  is  probably  best  known  as 
the  author  of  "The  Efficient  Life.,,  He  was  formerly  President 
of  the  American  Playground  Association.  He  was  recognized 
as  among  the  country's  foremost  authorities  on  physical  cul- 
ture and  on  general  physical  efficiency. 

Harry  Emerson  Fosdick,  is  a  professor  in  the  Union  Theo- 
logical Seminary.  He  is  writer,  preacher,  and  speaker. 
Two  of  his  books,  "Meaning  of  Prayer"  and  "Manhood  of 
the  Master,"  have  been  immensely  popular  with  the  men 
in  khaki.  He  is  a  brother  of  Raymond  B.  Fosdick,  chairman 
of  the  Commission  on  Training  Camp  activities. 

John  Garland  Pollard  resigned  as  Attorney-General  of 
Virginia  to  serve  with  the  overseas  forces.  He  has  been 
characterized  as  "Virginia's  first  Christian  citizen."  He  took 
a  prominent  part  in  the  fight  which  made  Virginia  dry. 

Everett  J.  Lake  was  formerly  Lieutenant-Governor  of  Con- 
necticut; was  head  of  the  largest  lumber  firm  in  Connecticut, 
and  was  director  in  Hartford  banks.  He  enlisted  for  the 
period  of  the  war. 

A.  A.  Boyden  was  a  founder  of  the  American  Magazine 
and  took  the  position  as  managing  editor  which  he  has  kept 
ever  since.  Billy  Sunday  influenced  him  to  become  more 
deeply  interested  in  social  and  moral  problems. 

Bishop  Charles  H.  Brent  was  Bishop  of  Western  New 
York  when  he  entered  the  overseas  service.  For  many  years 
he  was  missionary  bishop  of  the  Philippines  Islands.  While 
there,  he  was  a  friend  and  associate  of  General  Pershing. 

Dr.  William  H.  Crawford  has  been  President  of  Alleghany 


37 


College  for  twenty-five  years.    He  is  an  organizer,  promoter 

and  speaker. 

William  A.  Shanklin  was  President  of  Wesleyan  Univer- 
sity. He  went  overseas  for  organization  and  administrative 
work.  He  is  noted  especially  as  a  forceful  speaker  and  did 
much  speaking  while  in  France. 

A.  M.  Harris  is  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Harris,  Forbes 
&  Co.  He  has  been  treasure  of  the  World's  Sunday  School 
Association  and  was  chairman  of  the  Finance  Committee  of 
the  New  York  Billy  Sunday  Campaign. 

Walter  S.  Schutz  was  President  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen 
and  for  some  months  was  acting  mayor  of  Hartford.  He 
was  a  leader  in  the  Federation  of  Churches  and  in  the  recent 
War  Work  Campaign.  He  gave  up  a  large  law  practice  to 
enter  the  overseas  service. 

James  C.  Cassell  for  many  years  has  been  superintendent 
of  the  Norfolk  and  Western  Railroad.  When  the  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
took  over  the  canteen  business,  it  was  found  that  three 
freight  cars  and  scores  of  automoblies  were  required  to 
distribute  supplies  to  the  Association  huts.  Mr.  Cassell 
organized  the  Transportation  facilities  of  the  Association. 


38 


THE  AMERICAN  TROOPER'S 
BLIGHTY 


Furlough,  to  a  British  Tommy,  or  a  French  poilu,  means 
"Home !" 

But  the  Yankee's  home  is  three  thousand  miles  across  the 
ocean.  He  can't  come  back  until  "the  job  is  done."  Still,  in 
the  nerve-breaking  strain  of  modern  war,  he  must  have  a 
rest  from  the  din,  the  violence,  and  the  dirt  of  it  all. 

General  Pershing  had  not  only  to  consider  this  but  also  to 
reckon  with  the  American  trooper's  lack  of  knowledge  of  the 
French  language  and  customs,  "the  limited  train  service  and 
shortage  of  food  supplies  in  many  regions,  the  impossibility 
of  establishing  all  over  France  police  and  medical  services  to 
keep  the  furlough  men  in  order  and  good  health,  and  to 
assure  their  return  to  post  of  duty  on  the  day  of  the  expira- 
tion of  their  leave."  It  was  evident  that  a  definite  leave  area 
had  to  be  established,  and  that  in  the  leave  area  the  army 
should  see  that  the  men  were  adequately  housed  and  pro- 
vided with  means  of  recreation. 

And  so  Aix-les-Bains,  one  of  the  beauty  spots  of  the  world, 
in  the  province  of  Savoy,  the  region  from  which  sprang  the 
famous  "Blue  Devils,"  the  Alpine  Chasseurs,  was  chosen. 

Formerly  one  of  the  most  brilliant  of  fashionable  watering 
places  on  the  continent,  the  gathering  place  of  princes  and 
the  aristocracy  of  the  world,  Aix-les-Bains  has  been  taken 
over  as  a  playground  for  the  men  of  the  United  States  Expe- 
ditionary Force  on  their  eight  day  furloughs,  which  are 
granted  every  four  months,  circumstances  permitting. 

Having  chosen  the  place,  Uncle  Sam,  represented  by  Gen- 
eral Pershing,  turned  over  to  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  the  work  of 
making  each  eight  day  furlough  just  that  bit  of  paradise 
each  soldier  dreams  it  will  be  in  the  brooding  night  on  the 
fire  step. 

And  the  words  of  an  American  boy  leaving  Aix  for  the 
front  again  indicate  how  the  "Y"  is  fulfilling  its  trust ! 


39 


"Has  it  been  good?  Too  darn  good!  It's  just  like  leaving 
home  again." 

The  news  that  they  were  not  to  be  allowed  to  spend  their 
leave  in  Paris,  has  brought  many  a  soldier  "sore"  and  dis- 
gruntled to  Aix  but  they  have  come  to  scoff  and  remained  to 
pray  that  their  eight  days  were  eight  months. 

Acting  in  behalf  of  the  Government,  the  "Y"  has  made 
a  contract  with  the  proprietors  for  reduced  rates,  and  in 
consequence,  the  "Yanks"  are  entertained  as  the  guests  of 
Uncle  Sam  at  the  best  of  the  fashionable  hotels,  while  Aix, 
with  its  famous  waters,  baths  and  Casino  are  at  the  disposal 
of  the  troops.  In  days  before  the  war  Aix  attracted  thou- 
sands of  Americans  each  season,  including  the  late  J.  Pier- 
pont  Morgan,  who  annually  spent  his  birthday,  April  17, 
there.  The  soldiers  are  assigned  to  the  various  hotel  rooms 
as  they  arrive  and  every  man  has  a  chance  of  drawing  the 
suite  of  Queen  Victoria,  J.  Pierpont  Morgan,  or  the  King  of 
Greece.  The  menu  served  to  the  privates  is  the  same  as  that 
served  to  crowned  heads  and  millionaires. 

The  heart  of  the  great  playground  is  the  palatial  million 
dollar  Casino,  once  a  celebrated  gambling  house  thronged  by 
fashionable  idlers,  now  headquarters  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  a 
veritable  house  of  recreation,  entertainment,  refreshment,  and 
comfort  for  the  American  boys. 

Beneath  its  great  roof  is  a  theatre,  a  motion  picture  hall, 
reading,  lecture  and  vesper  rooms,  a  canteen,  and  a  great 
salon  where  the  soldiers  gather  between  times  just  to  sit  still 
or  talk,  and  to  realize  the  happiness,  cleanliness  and  joy  of 
it  all. 

With  new  men  arriving  every  day,  the  "Y"  is  perpetually  on 
the  jump  in  order  to  attain  completely  its  objective — to  keep 
all  of  the  men  happy  all  of  the  time.  Herbert  Adams  Gibbons, 
in  the  Century  of  August,  describes  the  life  at  Aix : 

"There  is  a  municipal  theatre  at  Chambery,  and  a  casino 
at  Challes-les-Eaux.  (The  two  adjacent  rest  camps.)  Three 
orchestras  play  for  afternoon  tea  and  at  the  evening  theatrical 
performances.  From  eleven  to  twelve  every  evening  there  is 
dancing  (General  Pershing  says  that  the  girls  of  the  Y.  M.  G 
A.  in  uniform  or  wearing  the  brassard  are  members  of  the 
A.  E.  F.)    At  odd  moments,  and  several  times  daily  when  it 


40 


rains,  the  latest  moving  pictures  from  America  are  shown. 
Billiards,  pool,  ping-pong,  chess  and  checkers  are  available 
all  day  long.  In  the  reading  rooms  are  home  newspapers, 
magazines,  books,  and  open  fireplaces.  The  canteen  serves 
chocolate,  hot  coffee,  and  sandwiches,  and  is  stocked  with 
smokes  and  delicacies  that  can  be  found  nowhere  else  outside 
the  United  States." 

Out-of-doors,  fagged  nerves  are  revived  in  spirited  games 
of  baseball,  track  running,  football,  tennis  and  handball,  and 
there  are  meets  and  tournaments  every  week.  For  those  who 
want  to  get  off  by  themselves,  there  are  many  beautiful  walks, 
golf,  fishing,  the  seclusion  and  healing  touch  of  Nature  on 
the  soft  green  banks  of  Lac  du  Bouget,  or  sailing  on  its  sur- 
face for  the  amateur  yachtsman.  On  moonlight  evenings  the 
placid  waters  reflect  a  regatta  of  drifting  boats,  while  the 
echoes  of  "My  Old  Kentucky  Home"  and  "Nita,  Wa-a-a-nita" 
roll  back  to  the  encircling  vista  of  snow-capped  mountains. 

The  days  are  filled  with  a  round  of  activities.  Excursions 
go  to  Mont  Revard,  the  mountain  directly  behind  Aix,  from 
whose  summit  Mt.  Blanc  may  be  seen.  At  the  peak,  where 
a  hot  luncheon  is  served,  the  troopers  plunge  into  the  snow 
drifts,  and  for  a  time  the  snow  flies,  while  a  taste  of  "real 
war"  is  served  up  as  an  appetizer. 

Picnic  parties  row  across  the  lake  to  Hautecombe  Abbey, 
which  stands  on  the  sole  bit  of  ground  in  this  province  still 
controlled  by  Italy.  It  contains  200  marble  statues  and  the 
mausoleums  of  the  Dukes  of  Savoy. 

In  this  wonder  spot,  the  trooper  whose  interest  is  charmed 
by  tales  of  other  days,  sees  where  Hannibal,  in  200  B.  C. 
started  his  passage  through  the  Alps ;  he  walks  where  Charle- 
magne, Henry  of  Navarre,  the  Khedives  of  Egypt,  Elizabeth 
of  Austria,  Marie  Pau  of  Portugal,  Kings  of  Great  Britain, 
Sweden,  Norway,  Belgium,  Spain,  and  American  kings  of 
high  finance,  have  walked. 

The  "Y"  has  been  materially  assisted  at  Aix  in  entertaining 
the  American  soldiers,  by  the  Duchess  of  Vendome,  sister 
of  King  Albert  of  Belgium,  who  continually  invites  the 
American  soldiers  to  her  home  at  Aix,  and  often  helps  in  ar- 
ranging special  amusements  for  them.  Of  the  "Y"  she  has 
said : 


41 


"I  wish  to  express  my  admiration  for  all  the  good  done  by 
the  wonderful  society  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  In  England  and 
France  I  have  seen  them  at  work.  I  have  seen  their  huts  at 
the  front  and  their  canteens  and  libraries.  They  are  really 
splendidly  organized.  It  is  the  Army  of  Charity  comforting 
the  fighting  and  suffering  men." 


42 


HELPING  TO  MAKE  SOLDIERS 


THE  "Y"  IN  HOME  CAMPS  AND  CANTONMENTS 

Do  you  want  the  young  American  to  be  a  "slicker,"  a  slack- 
er, or  a  soldier?    This  is  no  reflection  on  the  man. 

Have  you  ever  thought  that  the  average  young  man  has 
just  two  philosophies  about  this  soldiering  business?  He 
can  go  at  it  in  the  spirit  of  the  time-server.  He  can  look 
upon  it  as  an  interval  in  the  business  of  living.  He  can  evade 
much  and  still  "keep  within  the  law."  Or  he  can  make  mili- 
tary life  an  opportunity.  He  can  regard  it  as  a  chance  to 
enrich  his  own  life,  broaden  his  outlook,  gain  experience  and 
attain  higher  ideals. 

Slackers  are  few,  conscientious  objectors  are  scarce,  but 
the  "slickers",  as  they  have  come  to  be  called,  are  more 
numerous. 

More  thrilling,  more  picturesque  is  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  work 
overseas,  with  men  on  the  fighting  front,  but  equally  essen- 
tial is  that  with  the  troops  training  in  this  country  to  take 
their  places  in  the  battle  line. 

In  training  camps  and  cantonments,  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  helps 
to  achieve  the  transformation,  to  bridge  the  chasm,  between 
the  civilian  and  the  soldier. 

The  soldier  in  the  making  has  a  peculiar  need  for  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  The  War  Department  and  army  officials  have 
recognized  this.  The  same  holds  good  with  the  sailor  and 
marine. 

There  were  good  soldiers  long  before  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  was 
heard  of,  it  is  true.  But  probably  there  was  never  such  a 
high  ratio  of  fine  spirited,  self-sacrificing  young  men  as  there 
are  in  the  American  army  and  navy  to-day.  This  has  come 
about,  in  part,  because  the  various  agencies,  including  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  have  done  their  part  toward  educating  the  sol- 
dier in  the  opportunities  and  duties  that  confront  him. 

Not  only  does  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  seek  to  make  a  better  soldier 
of  the  young  American ;  it  aims  to  make  a  better  man  of  him. 
Its  physical  education  program  supplements  the  effects  of  the 


43 


various  drills,  clean  living  and  hard  exercises  demanded  in 
the  army.  Its  educational  opportunities,  that  have  their  foun- 
dations on  these  shores  and  their  developments  in  the  training 
and  rest  camps  abroad,  look  forward  to  the  time  when  he 
will  return  to  the  pursuits  of  peace.  Its  recreational  and  en- 
tertainment programs  aim  to  keep  him  in  a  healthful  and  nor- 
mal mental  state.  Its  religious  work  keeps  before  him  the 
spiritual  significance  of  the  sacrifice  he  is  making. 

The  story  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  its  service  for  the  four 
million  or  more  Americans  who  have  entered  the  military 
service  in  itself  is  an  astounding  story. 

SOME  HUT  STATISTICS 

There  are  538  Y.  M.  C.  A.  huts  in  American  camps  and 
cantonments  in  this  country.  There  are  others  in  cities,  like 
the  big  Liberty  Hut  in  Washington,  and  the  splendidly 
equipped  Eagle  Hut  in  New  York  City. 

These  huts  help  to  gauge  the  extent  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  War 
Work.  Hut  and  home  mean  more  to  the  soldier  than  a  pretty 
alliteration.    The  words  are  synonyms. 

In  all,  there  are  730  huts  either  operating  or  in  course  of 
construction  in  this  country.  They  cost  nearly  $5,000,000. 
One  hundred  and  four  more  have  been  authorized,  to  cost 
$633,000. 

They  serve  not  a  sect  nor  fraction  of  the  soldiers.  They 
are  used  by  all  who  desire  to  avail  themselves  of  the  privi- 
leges. Catholics,  Jews  and  men  who  profess  no  religious 
faith  are  welcomed  in  them  without  a  question.  Masses 
have  been  held  in  many,  and  in  a  number  of  them,  the  sec- 
retaries of  the  Jewish  Welfare  Board  have  desks  and  conduct 
their  work. 

GOING  TO  SCHOOL 

The  young  man  in  uniform  can  go  to  grade  school,  high 
school,  or  college  if  he  wants  to.  He  has  done  so  by  the 
thousands. 

The  demand  came  from  him.  Most  folk  got  the  wrong 
angle  on  educational  work  for  the  soldiers  at  the  outset.  It 
was  thought  that  after  a  hard  day  of  military  routine,  he 
wouldn't  care  for  serious  things  and  would  seek  only  enter- 


44 


tainment  and  light  reading.  The  young  American  soon 
proved  that  was  not  the  stuff  he  was  made  of.  He  began  by 
demanding  more  serious  reading  matter;  then  by  seeking  to 
take  up  serious  study. 

Educational  work  has  ranged  from  teaching  English  to 
foreign-born  Americans,  and  reading  and  writing  to  illiter- 
ates, up  to  technical  courses  for  men  who  already  had  been 
in  colleges  and  universities. 

Classes  in  reading  and  writing  have  been  conducted  for 
about  30,000  illiterates  and  for  40,000  foreign-born  soldiers. 
In  anticipation  of  going  to  France,  a  marked  interest  in  the 
study  of  the  French  language  has  been  shown  and  by  August 
50,000  had  enrolled  in  French  courses  on  this  side  and  the 
number  was  growing. 

Educational  lectures  have  been  a  marked  and  valuable  fea- 
ture of  this  educational  program.  William  Howard  Taft  set 
the  example  by  giving  his  time  for  a  lecture  tour  covering 
practically  all  the  big  encampments  in  the  country,  and  other 
public  men,  educators,  and  the  like  have  co-operated. 

The  objectives  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  educational  work  are 
described  as  two-fold : 

1.  "To  increase  the  efficiency  of  the  soldiers  and  sailors  for 
the  immediate  task  of  defeating  German  autocracy. 

2.  "To  prepare  the  men  for  better  social  relationships  after 
the  war." 

Beside  English  and  French,  elementary  subjects  most  in 
demand  have  been  history,  geography  and  mathematics  and 
other  modern  languages  including  Spanish  and  Italian;  com- 
mercial subjects  such  as  bookkeeping,  stenography,  typewrit- 
ing; technical  and  vocational  such  as  automobile,  gas  engine, 
radio,  and  aeroplane  construction.  At  naval  stations,  subjects 
of  particular  interest  to  that  branch  of  the  service,  including 
navigation  and  trigonometry  were  taken  up.  Lecture  subjects 
have  largely  centered  about  backgrounds  of  the  war  and 
health,  thrift,  social  and  economic  questions.  In  June  1,184 
lectures  were  attended  by  approximately  516,000  men.  A 
million  copies  of  the  booklet,  "France — Our  Ally,"  which 
gives  a  brief  description  of  the  customs,  money,  living  condi- 
tions, etc.,  of  the  country  where  these  men  are  to  fight  have 
been  distributed  to  them  as  they  go  overseas. 


45 


In  co-operation  with  the  War  Service  of  the  American  Li- 
brary Association,  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  has  put  at  the  command 
of  the  men  books  by  the  millions.  Each  Association  building 
has  a  collection  of  from  1,000  to  2,000  volumes  for  the  free 
use  of  the  men.  The  proportion  of  serious  reading  among 
the  soldiers  upset  anticipation.  If  you  like  figures'  here  are 
a  few,  showing  the  extent  of  the  educational  work.  During 
the  first  three  months  of  1918  there  were  62,750  classes  at- 
tended by  1,277,320  men.  There  were  502  clubs  of  an  edu- 
cational nature  attended  by  31,574  men.  There  were  6,143 
lectures  attended  by  1,998,046  men.  Books  circulated  num- 
bering 1,243,308.  You  have  reached  the  conclusion  by  this 
time  that  university  work  as  well  as  elementary  education  is 
in  great  demand  among  our  soldiers.  You  are  right.  A 
colonel  in  one  camp  recently  remarked : 

"I  am  conducting  a  University.  Of  my  2,500  men,  90  per 
cent  are  college  students." 

The  Government  welcomes  the  educational  work.  Many  of 
the  men  needed  the  rudiments  of  education.  In  one  unit  of 
6,000  men  in  the  first  draft,  25  per  cent  were  illiterate.  In 
twelve  months,  100,000  to  150,000  soldiers  were  taught  to 
speak  or  read  and  write  English.  In  June,  194,000  attended 
English  classes.  A  special  order  was  issued  by  the  War  De- 
partment instructing  all  non-English  speaking  men  to  be 
assigned  to  development  battalions  and  the  "Y"  co-operated 
by  providing  civilian  teachers,  supplies  and  text  books. 

ATTENDING  CHURCH 

The  man  in  uniform  has  every  opportunity  to  go  to  church. 
Many  of  the  best  pulpit  orators  of  the  country  have  volun- 
teered to  preach  for  him  and  to  serve  him.  Among  the 
men  who  have  spoken  regularly  at  the  camps  and  cantonments 
in  this  country  are  John  H.  Elliott  of  Minneapolis ;  Dr.  Nicho- 
las Murray  Butler  of  Columbia  University;  Dr.  John  Mc- 
Dowell, of  Baltimore ;  Dr.  James  Freeman,  of  Minneapolis ; 
Dr.  John  Timothy  Stone,  of  Chicago,  and  such  evangelists  as 
Milford  H.  Lynn,  Charles  R.  Drum,  W.  G.  Mason,  better 
known  as  "Big"  Mason;  and  Melville  Trotter  and  his  quar- 
tette. Frederick  P.  Keppel,  Assistant  Secretary  of  War, 
has  co-operated  in  this  respect  and  has  suggested  men  for 


46 


camp  speaking.  There  are  helpful  pamphlets,  not  at  all  of  the 
"tract"  variety,  but  containing  messages  of  virile  and  red 
blood  Christianity  which  have  been  distributed  among  the 
men  in  this  country.  In  the  last  year  1,200,000  copies  of  the 
Scriptures  have  been  given  to  the  men  in  the  fighting  forces. 
One  significant  phase  of  the  Association  work  here  and 
abroad  is  the  "War  Roll".  Cards  bearing  the  following 
pledge  are  given  to  men  who  desire  to  sign  them : 

"I  hereby  pledge  my  allegiance  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
as  my  Savior  and  King,  and  by  God's  help  will  fight  His 
battles  for  the  victory  of  His  Kingdom." 

One  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  nine  hundred  and  ninety- 
two  soldiers,  sailors  and  marines  have  already  signed  this 
pledge,  and  the  little  card  they  carry  in  their  Testaments  is 
a  daily  reminder  of  their  pledge.  Their  names  are  recorded 
on  the  war  roll  at  the  New  York  headquarters,  and  if  the 
signer  indicates  on  the  reserved  space  the  church  of  his 
preference,  the  "Y"  undertakes  to  effect  a  communication 
between  the  man  and  the  pastor  of  that  church. 

Dr.  John  McDowell,  religious  work  director  for  the  East- 
ern Department,  sizes  up  the  home  religious  work  as  fol- 
lows : 

"We  are  in  the  camps  to  help  the  Government  to  stop  this 
war,  winning  it  so  decisively  that  militarism  will  never  again 
lift  its  hand  against  guarded  humans.  We  stand  for  peace, 
but  it  must  be  peace  with  honor ;  which  means  peace  based 
on  religion.  We  can  best  help  the  Government  win  this 
war  by  putting  soul  stuff  into  the  men.  We  can  best  put 
soul  stuff  into  the  men  by  giving  them  vital  religion.  Vital 
religion  will  do  three  things  for  every  man :  It  will  give 
him  command  of  his  physical  powers ;  it  will  answer  his 
questions;  it  will  satisfy  his  needs  of  the  soul." 

One  observer  gives  a  bird's-eye  view  of  the  camp  religious 
work  in  this  fashion: 

"Contact  with  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  hut 
with  its  staff  of  Secretaries  in  any  of  these  great  camps,  pre- 
sents a  program  of  Christian  work  not  witnessed  hitherto  in 
the  history  of  Christianity,  but  all  of  these  opportunities 
burst  into  flood  tide  at  this  camp  which  becomes  a  waiting 
room  for  the  transport.   The  mail  with  the  home  letters  pours 

47 


in  by  cartload,  a  Secretary  stands  up  on  a  box  and  with  a 
megaphone  reads  out  the  names,  while  a  mass  of  anxious 
faces  lean  hard  forward  if  perchance  to  catch  the  first  sound 
of  their  own  names. 

"At  the  other  side  of  the  building  the  Information  Bureau 
and  another  Secretary  with  a  megaphone,  from  morning  till 
night,  is  directing  the  visiting  relatives  and  friends  to  the 
various  barracks  where  they  may  find  the  soldiers  they  come 
to  see.  Writing  paper,  envelopes  and  stamps  flow  out  over 
another  counter,  a  steady  stream,  just  as  rapidly  as  the  Sec- 
retary's hand  can  respond.  The  soldiers  are  banked  twenty 
deep  waiting  their  chance  to  be  served.  Other  Secretaries 
are  working  under  constant  pressure  getting  money  sent 
home,  or  from  home  delivered.  Others  are  helping  some  of 
the  men  getting  parcels  out  of  the  mass  of  express  packages, 
another  is  giving  a  soldier  inside  advice  about  the  care  of 
his  wife  and  child  who  are  left  behind.  In  fact,  the  building 
is  packed  with  eager  men,  every  one  of  whom  is  asking  for 
some  friendly  service  before  he  gets  away. 

"At  three  o'clock  the  Gospel  meeting  begins  with  the  hymn, 
'The  Son  of  God  Goes  Forth  to  War';  it  needs  no  explana- 
tion; and  for  an  hour  following  the  scene  is  transformed 
into  a  home  church  service  that  many  of  these  men  will 
remember  as  long  as  memory  has  power.  At  five  the  place 
must  be  cleared  and  swept  out  for  the  evening  meeting.  I 
saw  the  religious  work  Secretary,  an  Episcopalian  rector, 
who  would  do  honor  to  any  pulpit  in  the  United  States,  with 
a  pail  of  water  and  a  broom,  sprinkling  and  sweeping,  and 
when  I  asked  if  that  was  a  part  of  his  duties  his  prompt 
answer  was^  "We  have  to  do  anything  here  to  get  this  job 
done."  At  seven  o'clock  3,000  more  soldiers  are  packed  in 
the  hut  for  the  meeting.  A  call  of  states  of  which  they 
were  native  was  made.  They  represented  every  state  in  the 
union  save  three.  More  than  a  hundred  were  born  in  Eu- 
rope. Following  this  service  every  available  man  of  the 
staff  is  busy  till  late  dealing  with  men  who  have  solemnly 
declared  their  purpose  to  accept  Jesus  Christ  as  their  Saviour! 
Their  names  are  taken,  Testaments  are  given  to  each  and 
promises  made  to  write  to  home  churches  and  pastors." 


48 


SEEING  A  SHOW 


The  men  in  uniform  can  attend  a  good  theatrical  show 
frequently  and  a  good  movie  show  almost  any  night.  In  the 
space  of  half  a  year,  the  Red  Triangle  has  built  up  a  booking 
agency  that  sends  1,200  "acts"  a  month  to  training  camps, 
aviation  fields,  naval  instruction  schools,  to  the  fleets  of  the 
navy,  that  is,  battleships  in  port,  drydocks,  to  industrial  plants 
engaged  in  war  work  and  to  embarkation  points.  The  enter- 
tainment and  educational  department  corps  dovetail  their 
routing  of  lecturers  and  entertainers.  However  one  may 
choose  to  classify  them  the  entertainment  bureau  merely  terms 
them  "acts."  Any  booking  agency  able  to  route  over  its 
chain  of  theatres  such  "acts"  as  Miss  Margaret  Wilson,  Wil- 
liam Howard  Taft,  Mme.  Louise  Homer,  Augustus  Thomas, 
Jack  Rose,  Maude  Powell,  Rabbi  Wise,  and  scores  of  others 
equally  well  known,  would  be  on  the  road  to  fortune. 

The  "acts"  range  from  operatic  selections  to  monologues, 
religious  addresses,  illustrated  lectures.  The  monthly  "turn- 
over" of  the  "Y"  booking  agency  in  August  was  800  motion 
pictures,  200  religious  speakers,  125  entertainers,  and  75  lec- 
turers on  educational  subjects. 

Recreation  in  the  form  of  entertainment  is  universally  con- 
sidered essential  to  maintaining  the  morale  of  the  fighting 
men.  The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  has  fulfilled  this  need  with  clean, 
high-grade  entertainment.  Many  entertainers  booked  on  a 
camp  circuit  have  done  more  than  just  give  their  "acts". 
They  have  lived  the  lives  of  the  boys  with  the  colors ;  they 
have  taught  many  a  soldier  and  sailor  how  to  put  on  an 
"act"  of  his  own  after  the  professionals  have  gone.  These 
"acts"  are  not  booked  in  haphazard  fashion  any  more  than 
are  productions  sent  out  by  any  theatrical  agency.  They  are 
requisitioned  on  forms  from  the  camp  secretaries  and  the 
camp  is  supplied  with  the  kind  of  entertainment  or  with  the 
personnel  of  entertainers  which  it  has  been  found  goes  best 
among  the  men. 

Entertainers  are  sent  out  from  the  booking  office  at  No. 
347  Madison  Avenue,  New  York,  headquarters  of  the  Na- 
tional War  Work  Council,  to  warships  as  they  arrive  in  port. 
The  fleet  secretary  gets  information  from  the  Navy  Depart- 
ment on  arrivals  of  vessels  and  often  before  these  ships 


49 


anchor,  entertainers  are  ready  to  board  them  along  with  the 
"Y"  Secretary. 

GAMES  AND  SPORTS 

The  man  in  uniform  has  all  the  sports  and  athletics  he  de- 
sires. The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  gives  him  gymnasiums  and  athletic 
fields. 

The  physical  educational  program  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  is 
one  of  every  man  in  the  game.  Mass  athletics  and  group 
games  are  taught  in  which  all  can  participate. 

Use  of  play  as  an  entertainment  feature,  by  accompanying 
the  activities  in  the  evening  with  stunts,  music,  singing,  box- 
ing and  wrestling  competitions  contribute  good  cheer.  Ath- 
letics are  employed  as  a  moral  factor.  They  develop  the 
spirit  of  team  work  which  is  essential  to  military  organiza- 
tion. They  arouse  enthusiasm,  incite  the  play  spirit  and 
bring  contentment. 

Few  things  make  the  active  young  American  so  disgruntled 
as  to  desire  to  get  into  a  baseball  game  or  a  boxing  match 
or  a  volley  ball  game  and  not  to  have  the  facilities  to  do  so. 

The  athletic  program,  like  the  educational,  looks  forward 
to  the  post-war  period.  Never  was  such  an  opportunity  pre- 
sented for  arousing  the  interest  of  men  in  physical  develop- 
ment, clean  sport,  and  healthful  athletics.  Having  once  ex- 
perienced the  value  of  these  things,  they  are  not  likely  to 
return  to  the  sedentary  life  which  has  given  rise  recently  to 
a  number  of  diseases  which  have  increased  the  death  rate 
among  middle  aged  men  to  an  alarming  extent. 

CITY  ASSOCIATIONS  HELP 

In  addition  to  the  special  war  work  of  the  Association,  it 
is  the  invariable  rule  that  men  in  uniform  are  granted  all 
privileges  of  the  Associations  in  various  cities  without  pay- 
ment of  the  usual  membership  fees. 

All  war  service  rendered  by  City  Associations  is  paid  for 
by  the  Associations  themselves.  No  part  .of  the  war  fund  is 
diverted  to  City  Association  work  even  when  that  work 
may  be  greatly  increased  by  the  demands  of  war  time. 

These  privileges  include  sleeping  accommodations  in  dor- 
mitories, with  a  small  charge  to  cover  cost  of  laundry,  re- 

50 


newals  of  linen,  extra  help,  etc.;  food  and  refreshment,  at 
special  breakfasts,  suppers,  cafeterias,  canteens,  etc.;  social 
conveniences,  such  as  the  unlimited  hospitality  of  the  Asso- 
ciation buildings  throughout  the  country,  including  the  use 
of  lobbies,  social  and  recreational  rooms,  games,  bowling,  bil- 
liards, pianos,  victrolas,  rooms  in  which  to  rest,  read  and 
write,  clean  up,  check  baggage,  or  parcels,  opportunity  for 
having  laundry  done,  and  all  the  other  comforts  of  a  "home 
away  from  home;"  the  free  use  of  showers  and  swimming 
tanks,  with  nominal  charge  for  towel  and  soap;  reading  and 
writing  material ;  amusements,  including  motion  pictures, 
concerts  and  entertainments  in  which  the  best  of  local  and 
professional  talent  available  is  seen ;  automobile  and  sight 
seeing  trips,  etc. ;  and  the  hospitality  of  private  homes  ar- 
ranged through  secretaries  and  local  committees. 

At  one  Association  building,  that  at  Waco,  Texas,  there  is 
an  average  attendance  at  the  weekly  social  of  5,645 ;  91,000 
letters  have  been  mailed  from  the  building  by  soldiers,  and 
70,000  men  in  uniform  have  been  given  baths  in  the  past  year. 
An  average  of  400  soldiers  use  the  building  every  day. 

At  the  Washington,  D.  C,  building,  bathing  privileges  have 
been  extended  to  19,708  soldiers  during  the  months  of  May, 
June,  July,  and  August.  The  average  daily  soldier  attendance 
for  August  was  188,  while  on  August  6,  640  soldiers  enjoyed 
the  Association  privileges. 


51 


WITH  THE  NAVY 


The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  began  its  work  in 
the  American  Navy  during  the  Spanish-American  War.  In 
subsequent  days  of  peace  large  buildings  were  secured  in 
port  cities  to  serve  as  homes  ashore,  providing  lodging,  re- 
freshment, entertainment,  reading  and  writing  rooms,  educa- 
tional classes,  Bible  classes,  and  religious  meetings. 

Excellent  Association  buildings  for  men  in  the  Navy  and 
Marine  Corps  already  were  to  be  found  in  Boston,  Newport, 
Brooklyn,  Philadelphia,  Norfolk,  San  Francisco  and  Honolulu, 
not  to  mention  such  distant  points  as  Shanghai  and  Olongapo. 
When  the  United  States  entered  the  world  war  the  increase 
in  the  Navy  and  Marine  Corps  brought  large  opportunities, 
and  the  Navy  Associations  rose  splendidly  to  the  challenge. 
In  addition  to  the  regular  service  there  sprang  up  at  newly 
opened  naval-training  stations  and  naval  bases  an  effective 
war  work  similar  to  that  at  the  army  camps  of  the  country. 

At  these  points  provision  was  made  for  the  off  duty  hours 
of  men  in  training,  and  there  are  balanced  programs  of  en- 
tertainment, recreation,  education,  and  inspiration. 

This  war  work  for  the  navy  now  is  operative  at  fifty-eight 
points  in  seventy-six  specially  constructed  buildings,  either 
rented  or  granted  by  the  Government,  exclusive  of  nine  large 
permanent  buildings  and  annexes.  In  the  navy  work  436  sec- 
retaries are  engaged,  and  more  than  $545,000  has  been  ex- 
pended for  construction  of  buildings  for  navy  war  work.  Per- 
manent buildings  at  Newport,  Brooklyn,  and  Norfolk  cost 
$300,000,  $800,000  and  $300,000  respectively,  and  were  the  gifts 
of  Mrs.  Thomas  J.  Emory,  Mrs.  Finley  J.  Shepard,  and  John 
D.  Rockefeller,  Jr. 

In  the  Third  Navy  District  alone  1,524,754  men  used  the 
Association  buildings  during  the  first  six  months  of  the  pres- 
ent year.  Lodgings  were  furnished  to  145,219  and  93,600  were 
turned  away  for  lack  of  accommodations.  Meals  were  served 
to  332,800;  money  deposited  for  safe  keeping  amounted  to 
$516,729.  Physical  Department  privileges  were  used  by  194,791 
and  46,681  used  the  swimming  pool.  Attendance  at  entertain- 


52 


ments  was  293,436;  religious  meetings,  77,580;  lectures,  21,488. 
Letters  written  totaled  670,317,  and  about  10,000  letters  a 
week  are  cared  for  and  distributed  to  the  men. 

At  Base  No.  2,  for  the  use  of  the  men  of  the  Atlantic  Fleet, 
a  forty-acre  athletic  field  has  been  leased.  The  first  building 
erected  was  entirely  inadequate  to  meet  the  demands  and 
it  is  now  being  enlarged,  with  a  force  of  secretaries  in  charge. 
At  San  Pedro,  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  two  large  athletic  fields 
are  in  operation  by  the  War  Work  Council. 

This  provision  ashore  is  exclusive  of  an  organized  service 
to  the  ships  at  the  fleet  bases  and  at  anchor  in  the  vicinity,  as 
well  as  on  navy  transports.  Motion  pictures,  entertainers, 
speakers  and  lecturers  are  provided;  and  in  conjunction  with 
the  chaplains  and  the  ships'  officers  an  all-round  program  is 
furnished  in  so  far  as  conditions  will  permit.  Four  million 
feet  of  film  are  supplied  weekly  to  the  transports.  Every 
three  weeks  reels  amounting  to  135,000  feet  are  exchanged 
with  the  Atlantic  fleet ;  and  approximately  150,000  feet  monthly 
are  supplied  to  the  convoys. 

A  striking  feature  of  the  navy  work  is  at  Great  Lakes  Naval 
Training  Station.  During  the  past  year  nine  Association 
buildings  have  been  erected  at  a  cost  of  $61,038.  Ten  addi- 
tional buildings  are  in  course  of  construction,  including  gar- 
age and  store-room,  which  will  cost  $70,405,  making  a  total 
expenditure  of  $131,443  for  the  buildings.  The  necessary 
equipment  will  approximate  a  total  additional  cost  of  $20,000. 
A  staff  of  seventy-five  secretaries  is  now  employed,  and 
when  the  buildings  in  course  of  construction  are  completed 
it  will  be  necessary  to  maintain  a  staff  of  110  men. 

At  this  station  alone,  attendance  for  the  year  at  311  motion 
picture  shows  totaled  203,130;  and  the  attendance  at  596 
socials  and  other  entertainments  totaled  209,434.  Voluntary 
attendance  at  religious  meetings  totaled  524,169,  or  more  than 
double  the  attendance  at  either  socials  or  motion  pictures. 
Attendance  upon  2,822  different  Bible  class  sessions  was 
88,232  men.  In  educational  work  280  lectures  were  attended 
by  37,856.  A  total  of  4,082  were  enrolled  in  323  regularly 
conducted  educational  classes.  Competitive  physical  sports 
have  had  29,314  participants  with  32,173  spectators.  The 
Jackies  have  been  encouraged  to  exercise  thrift  to  the  extent 

53 


of  $148,989,  invested  in  money  orders;  and  2,464,918  letters 
have  been  mailed  from  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
buildings  at  Great  Lakes  Naval  Training  Station  alone. 

Among  prominent  speakers  who  have  addressed  the  navy 
personnel  at  the  invitation  of  the  National  War  Work  Coun- 
cil are  former  President  Taft,  Secretary  McAdoo,  Secretary 
Daniels,  John  D.  Rockefeller,  Jr.,  Dean  Shailer  Mathews, 
Rev.  John  Timothy  Stone,  and  other  men  of  prominence  and 
ability. 

There  is  no  group  of  sailors  or  marines  on  duty  anywhere 
on  the  Pacific  coast,  except  Alaska  and  Guam,  where  the 
Association  is  not  ministering  to  them  in  some  way;  and 
soon  there  will  be  work  in  Guam,  for  appropriation  has  been 
made  and  building  will  proceed  immediately.  In  the  Western 
Department  of  the  National  War  Work  Council,  work  is 
included  at  an  isolated  point  thirty  miles  out  to  sea  and  even 
at  the  coaling  station. 

Large  opportunity  has  been  found  in  the  development  of 
an  educational  program  in  the  Navy.  Lectures  are  given  on 
such  subjects  as  applied  science;  the  navy;  navigation;  back- 
ground of  the  war;  character  analysis;  personal  efficiency; 
and  semi-technical  vocational  questions.  Class  work  and  tutor- 
ing are  conducted  in  branches  such  as  mathematics;  elec- 
tricity; courses  for  advanced  ratings,  e.g.,  paymaster,  ensign, 
etc. ;  English ;  marine  engineering,  etc.  Vocational  counsel 
is  an  important  factor  of  the  Navy  educational  program,  and 
reports  from  the  Brooklyn  Navy  Yard  for  the  month  of 
April  indicate  actual  promotions  as  a  result  of  the  Associa- 
tion work.  At  Great  Lakes  thousands  of  boys  are  being  taught 
an  appreciation  of  art  through  sketching  and  drawing.  Use 
of  the  aesthetic  approach  has  done  much  for  the  boys  at  Ports- 
mouth (N.  H.)  through  the  introduction  of  interpretive 
musical  recitals. 


54 


IN  WAR  INDUSTRIES 


The  work  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  is  doing 
in  war  industries  perhaps  is  best  summed  up  by  Secretary  of 
Labor  William  B.  Wilson  as  follows : 

"Permit  me  to  express  my  appreciation  of  the  energetic  and 
intelligent  action  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
in  its  efforts  to  provide  opportunity  for  recreation  and  study 
for  the  workers  engaged  in  war  industries.  Many  years  of 
experience  with  modern  industry  has  demonstrated  that  men 
who  are  properly  housed,  with  agreeable  surroundings  and 
ample  opportunity  for  recreation  and  mental  development, 
make  much  more  efficient  workers  than  where  these  condi- 
tions are  absent.  The  magnificent  work  that  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  has  done  in  these  lines  before  and  since 
the  war  is  a  sufficient  assurance  to  the  public  that  it  will  be 
done  well  in  connection  with  war  workers." 

More  than  sixty-two  per  cent  of  the  nation's  industrial  work- 
ers are  located  east  of  the  Mississippi  and  north  of  the  Ohio 
rivers.  Therefore,  more  than  seventy-seven  per  cent  of  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  building  investment  for  industrial  workers'  also 
is  within  this  zone. 

In  great  ship  building  operations,  munitions  plants,  and 
other  special  war  industries,  are  massed  thousands,  some- 
times tens  of  thousands  of  men.  Hog  Island  Ship  Yard,  near 
Philadelphia,  covers  900  acres,  contains  seventy-five  miles  of 
railroad  track,  and  will  employ  approximately  30,000  men. 
Such  opportunities  must  be  grasped  for  the  same  reasons 
that  the  assemblage  of  that  many  men  in  a  cantonment  sets 
forth  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  opportunity.  Portland,  Oregon,  has 
four  secretaries  working  in  ship  building  plants. 

Six  definite  lines  of  organized  service  have  been  found 
practicable  in  industries  and  industrial  communities  as  fol- 
lows : 

1.  In  a  branch  of  a  city  Association,  with  a  building  located 
to  serve  industrial  workers  and  supported  by  community 
resources. 


55 


2.  In  a  building  provided  by  a  single  industry  or  group  of 
industries,  supported  jointly  by  employer  and  employe. 

3.  General  Industrial  Extension  Work.  Shop  meetings  and 
other  activities  among  industrial  workers  outside  of  the  As- 
sociation building,  usually  without  regard  to  membership. 
Such  work  may  be  done  at  any  point  where  the  workers  can 
be  assembled  and  may  relate  to  their  working,  living,  or 
leisure  conditions.  The  cost  generally  has  been  borne  by  the 
Association,  but  there  is  an  increasing  willingness  on  the 
part  of  both  employers  and  employes  to  pay  the  cost  of  work 
done  in  connection  with  their  industries. 

4.  Special  Organized  Industrial  Extension  Work.  This  is 
led  by  an  Industrial  Committee,  with  an  Industrial  Secretary, 
whose  budget  is  generally  provided  by  the  industries.  Both 
the  Committee  and  the  Industrial  Secretary  should  always 
be  responsible  to  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  city  Y.  M. 
C.  A. 

5.  Plant  Extension  Work.  A  secretary  attached  to  the  staff 
of  the  local  Association  and  giving  all  or  part  time  to  work 
in  a  single  industry.  Such  a  secretary  has  an  intimate  but  not 
an  official  relation  to  the  industry.  His  work  represents  the 
interest  of  both  employer  and  employe,  and  he  works  under 
a  plant  committee  composed  of  representatives  of  both.  A 
plant  employing  1,000  or  more  men  in  justified  in  using  the  full 
time  of  a  secretary  and  in  providing  a  budget  paid  through 
the  treasury  of  the  city  Association.  Proper  premises  and 
equipment  should  be  provided  in  the  plant  to  secure  the  best 
results. 

6.  The  System  Plan — in  which  an  industry  having  several 
plants  takes  the  full  time  of  a  Secretary  to  establish  and 
supervise  Association  work  in  the  several  plants. 


56 


WOMEN'S  PART  IN  WAR  WORK 


It  is  an  old  fallacy  that  men  alone  are  concerned  in  the 
carrying  on  of  war.  From  time  immemorial  women  have  had 
to  bear  a  heavy  share  of  all  war  burdens.  The  difference  be- 
tween what  women  are  doing,  and  must  do,  in  this  war  and 
other  wars  is  measured  by  the  difference  of  the  interests  in- 
volved, and  the  gigantic  scale  on  which  this  war  is  being 
fought. 

The  world  struggle  for  all  that  humanity  holds  most  dear, 
demands  for  its  successful  conclusion  the  effective  use  of 
every  atom  of  strength,  and  power,  and  purpose  that  the 
Allied  Powers  can  muster.  This  means  that  while  the  fighting 
men  are  called  to  the  trenches  the  women  must  lend  their 
aid  in  the  fields  and  in  the  factories,  on  the  railroads  and  in 
the  ship  yards.  It  is  not  surprising  that  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  has 
recognized  the  necessity  for  utilizing  the  work  that  women 
can  do,  both  because  the  number  of  men  that  can  be  used 
for  this  work  is  limited,  and  because  there  are  certain  fields 
for  which  women  are  preeminently  fitted. 

The  war  work  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  is  on  such  a  large  scale, 
and  touches  so  many  sides  of  the  soldiers'  lives,  that  it  is 
difficult  to  sum  up  its  essential  qualities.  The  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
has  been  entrusted  with  the  task  of  following  our  troops 
wherever  they  go,  and  of  setting  up  in  the  camps  centers 
which  stands  to  our  boys  in  the  place  of  library,  and  school, 
club  and  theater,  church  and  home, — above  all  home.  Word 
is  constantly  coming  from  the  other  side  that  boys  have 
christened  the  "Y"  hut  "the  home  hut."  When  such  word 
comes  we  know  that  the  "Y"  in  that  place  is  fulfilling  its 
highest  function. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  in  making  home  spots  in  the 
camps  women  are  needed,  and  that  when  this  is  successfully 
done  the  greatest  possible  force  is  released  for  combating  the 
dread  disease  of  homesickness  which  lies  in  wait  for  boys 
many  thousands  of  miles  away  from  home.  Homesickness 
has  come  to  be  recognized  as  one  of  the  great  evils  that  must 
be  overcome  if  men  are  to  be  kept  at  the  highest  point  of  effi- 


57 


ciency.  Morale  means  morality,  it  means  sanity,  it  means  cour- 
age. The  troops  whose  morale  is  high  are  the  troops  who  are 
physically,  mentally,  morally  fit.  Homesickness  is  the  in- 
sidious foe  of  all  these  qualities,  for  if  the  homesick  lad 
has  nowhere  to  turn  in  his  loneliness  he  is  the  prey  of  all 
evil  forces. 

The  list  of  tributes  to  what  the  "Y"  women  have  been  able 
to  do  in  creating  a  sense  of  home,  in  holding  before  the  boys 
their  home  ideals,  and  keeping  vivid  the  picture  of  what  their 
own  mothers,  and  wives,  and  sisters,  and  daughters,  and 
sweethearts  would  expect  of  them,  is  constantly  growing, 
and  it  forms  one  of  the  fairest  pages  in  the  annals  of  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A. 

The  boys  in  the  mud  soaked  French  camp  who  asked  our 
27-year-old  "Y"  worker  if  they  might  call  her  mother,  be- 
cause if  they  could  say  to  her  "Good-night  Mother,  I  am  all 
straight,"  said  it  would  keep  them  from  wanting  to  go  down 
to  town  where  conditions  were  not  such  as  their  own  mothers 
liked.  They  are  typical  of  many  others. 

We  are  sometimes  asked  why  this  work  is  not  all  done 
under  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  Just  as  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  is  a  work 
for  men,  so  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  is  a  work  for  women.  In  the 
Hostess  Houses  in  the  camps  the  Y.  W .  C.  A.  is  the  "Bit  of 
Home  within  the  Camps"  where  women  may  meet  their  men 
and  with  the  assistance  of  the  resident  hostesses,  be  a  home 
to  relatives  and  friends 

To  some  of  the  "Y"  workers  there  come  chances  for  sudden 
adventure,  but  whether  their  work  lies  in  the  cold,  and  mud, 
and  rain,  far  from  the  front,  or  close  behind  the  lines,  where 
danger  and  glory  are  evident,  the  spirit  in  which  the  service 
is  rendered  will  always  be  the  measure  of  its  success.  No 
matter  what  their  task  may  be,  however  simple,  however 
humdrum  the  daily  routine,  it  cannot  fail  to  be  glorious  if 
they  remember  that  they  too  are  contributing  to  the  great 
result. 

We  are  justly  proud  of  those  two  girls  who  stood  in  the 
rain  for  48  hours  serving  tea  and  waving  good-by  to  our  boys 
on  the  way  to  the  front.  We  are  justly  proud  of  the  men  and 
women  who  stayed  at  their  posts  that  the  boys  might  have 
hot  soup  and  cheering  words  until  the  hut  in  which  they  were 


58 


working  was  in  flames  from  German  shells.  We  are  equally 
proud  of  those  far  behind  the  lines  whose  steady  cheerfulness 
and  boundless  sympathy  have  kept  the  home  fires  burning 
in  the  hearts  of  lonely  boys. 

Of  all  the  words  that  come  back,  perhaps  the  most  inspirit- 
ing are  those  that  come  through  the  fathers  and  mothers  on 
this  side,  words  of  gratitude  that  their  boys  have  found 
friends  who  will  stand  by  them  whatever  they  do  and  where- 
ever  they  go. 

For  these  loyal  Y.  M.  C.  A.  workers  no  service  flag  flies, 
no  golden  stars  mark  their  death,  and  yet  they  all  know  that 
they  too  may  be  called  upon  to  give  not  only  the  service  of 
their  lives,  but  perhaps  life  itself.  With  solemn  pride  we 
remember  that  the  first  of  the  "Y"  workers  to  be  killed  in 
France  was  a  woman. 

Greater  love  hath  no  man  than  this. 


59 


WHAT  THE  Y.  W.  C.  A.  DOES 


To  avoid  any  confusion  about  the  distinctive  work,  in 
their  respective  fields,  of  the  women  working  in  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association,  and  the  war  workers  of  the 
Young  Women's  Christian  Association,  the  following  out- 
line of  the  scope  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  is  provided- 

While  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  is  working  for  the  men  in  the  army, 
the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  is  caring  for  the  women  who  are  employed  in 
war  industries,  in  army  service,  and  in  the  communities  ad- 
jacent to  army  camps.  The  hostess  houses  within  the  camps 
are  meeting  places  afforded  the  women  relatives  and  friends 
of  soldiers  and  sailors,  and  provide  a  bit  of  home  within  the 
camp  for  the  men  when  off  duty. 

The  War  Work  Council,  a  committee  of  the  National  Board 
of  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Associations  responsible 
for  using  the  resources  of  that  organization  in  helping  meet 
the  special  needs  of  girls  and  women  affected  by  the  war, 
carries  on  in  the  United  States  the  Following  lines  of  work: 

Establishing  Club  and  Recreation  Work  for  Girls,  including 
a  Patriotic  League,  now  numbering  400,000,  white  and  col- 
ored. 

Providing  Emergency  Housing  for  employed  girls  and 
women.  Five  centers  have  been  provided  to  date. 

Establishing  Hostess  Houses  in  or  near  army  and  navy 
camps  for  women  relatives  and  friends  of  the  army  and 
navy.  Sixty-one  are  in  use.  Twenty-five  others  are  author- 
ized.   Thirteen  of  these  are  for  colored  people. 

Establishing  Work  in  Colored  Communities  affected  by 
the  war,  led  by  colored  college  women  and  trained  social 
workers. 

Conducting  a  Bureau  for  Foreign-born  Women,  providing 
translations  in  eighteen  languages  of  needed  bulletins,  inter- 
preters in  army  camps,  training  for  Polish  women  for  recon- 
struction work  in  Poland,  and  a  home  service  for  non-English 
speaking  women. 

Providing  and  Financing  Social  Leaders  for  women  under 


60 


the  direction  of  the  War  Department  Commission  on  Train- 
ing Camp  Activities. 

Establishing  War  Service  Centers  and  Room  Registries  in 
cities  employing  girls  in  war  industries.  The  Government 
has  asked  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  for  leaders  in  twenty-two  of  its 
industrial  cantonments. 

Maintaining  a  Bureau  of  Social  Morality  which  cooperates 
with  the  War  Department  in  furnishing  a  Corps  of  Lecturers 
on  social  standards  in  war  time;  issues  literature. 

Publishing  a  War  Work  Bulletin  and  other  educational 
literature  for  women  in  war  time. 

Maintaining  a  Bureau  of  Volunteer  Workers. 

The  work  in  France  falls  under  three  divisions — recreation 
clubs  for  nurses  of  base  hospitals,  recreation  work  with 
French  women  in  munition  factories,  and  housing  and  recre- 
ation for  women  employed  in  connection  with  the  American 
Expeditionary  Forces. 

In  France  it  is  charged  with  providing  social  workers,  recre- 
ation leaders,  physical  directors  and  cafeteria  managers; 
foyers,  and  hostess  houses,  and  working  with  American 
women  in  France  (nineteen  centers),  Nurses,  Signal  corps 
(women),  other  English-speaking  women  (at  the  request  of 
the  French  Government)  (nine  centers),  working  in  munition 
factories,  in  stores  and  in  French  war  offices  and  in  Russia 
it  does  club,  cafeteria  and  educational  work  in  three  centers 
for  Russian  women. 


61 


WORK  AMONG  ALLIED  FORCES 

WITH  FRENCH  ARMY 

Upon  invitation  of  the  French  Government  the  American 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  has  carried  on  work  for  the  French  soldiers 
through  huts  known  as  the  "Foyers  du  Soldat"  or  "Soldiers' 
Hearth.,, 

Although  102  foyers  were  lost  in  the  May  drive,  47  new 
ones  had  been  started  by  August  1,  making  in  all  in  operation 
more  than  700.  These  foyers  are  in  charge  of  French  Direc- 
tors. More  than  150  American  secretaries  work  with  them. 
It  is  hard  to  realize  how  much  these  French  foyers  have 
meant  to  the  French  poilu. 

Picture  for  yourself  the  French  soldier  after  his  trench 
stint  going  back  of  the  line  for  "repose"  in  just  the  same  sort 
of  stables,  in  just  the  same  slimy  mud,  assailed  by  just  the 
same  "cooties,"  or  "totos"  as  the  French  call  them,  hunting 
a  scrap  of  paper  to  write  home,  using  his  knee  for  a  writing 
pad  if  the  mud  were  not  more  than  knee  deep.  Get  that 
picture,  and  you  can  appreciate  more  the  splendid  morale 
of  the  French  when  they  went  back  to  the  firing  line  again 
and  again  after  such  "rests"  for  four  years,  and  you  like- 
wise can  grasp  what  the  clean  huts,  or  foyers,  with  music, 
games,  paper  and  books,  meant  to  the  poilu. 

A  Y.  M.  C.  A.  man  makes  this  comment: 

"It  was  interesting  to  make  comparisons  between  the  Amer- 
ican and  French  soldiers  in  their  respective  huts.  The  Amer- 
ican generally  goes  to  the  hut  with  a  definite  object  in  view. 
When  the  object  is  attained,  he  leaves.  The  poilu  on  the 
other  hand,  when  off  duty  drifts  into  the  foyer,  has  his  hot 
cup  of  chocolate,  takes  his  smoke,  and  just  sits  meditating, 
dreaming.  The  French  are  glad  of  occasional  entertainment, 
but  do  not  seek  excitement  as  the  American  soldier  does." 

The  work  has  received  the  endorsement  of  the  highest 
authorities.  General  Petain  himself  in  a  letter  commending 
the  work  writes  as  follows : 

"During  the  two  years  of  its  workings  this  enterprise  has 
rendered  incontestible  service.  ...  I  seize  the  occasion  to 


62 


inform  you  that  I  am  disposed  to  facilitate  in  every  way  pos- 
sible the  new  extension  of  this  work  in  the  zone  of  our 
armies." 

The  French  Ministry  of  War  has  asked  the  American  As- 
sociation to  extend  the  work  to  2,000  points,  thus  covering 
the  whole  French  Army.  The  enterprise  is  being  extended  to 
the  French  navy  and  also  to  the  great  munition  works. 

There  are  at  present  750  French  directors  engaged  in  this 
work,  together  with  25  American  secretaries. 

WITH  ITALIAN  ARMY 

Nearly  a  year  ago  as  the  result  of  a  visit  of  an  American- 
English  Association  deputation  to  Italy,  there  came  a  re- 
quest from  the  military  authorities  of  Italy  asking  the  Asso- 
ciation movements  of  Great  Britain  and  America  to  send 
workers  to  Italy. 

Three  army  headquarters  have  been  established,  from  each 
of  which  it  is  planned  to  radiate  the  work  to  ten  huts.  From 
each  of  these  huts  a  camion  service  will  be  operated  to  ten 
additional  points,  on  the  extreme  front. 

Under  the  leadership  of  a  "Y"  physical  director,  a  remark- 
able opportunity  has  been  developed  for  carrying  out  within 
the  Italian  army  a  program  of  physical  training  which  will 
ultimately  place  physical  and  recreational  activities  on  a  large 
scale  within  the  reach  of  three  million  soldiers  of  the  Italian 
Army.  At  present  97  American  secretaries  are  in  service  with 
the  Italian  Army. 

WITH  OTHER  ALLIED  ARMIES 

Special  developments  of  "Y"  work  have  been  initiated  within 
the  Belgian,  Portuguese,  Polish,  Czech  and  Indian  armies 
in  France.  The  main  development  of  the  work  is  to  be 
found  in  the  labor  battalions  of  Chinese,  Indian,  and  African 
troops  and  laborers  connected  with  the  A.  E.  F.,  French 
Army,  and  Italian  Army.  This  constitutes  a  cosmopolitan 
opportunity,  practically  every  race  in  the  world  being  rep- 
resented in  the  constituency  of  the  "Y"  work  in  Europe. 
Such  work  is  being  carried  on  among  22  nationalities  in 
France. 

At  Camp  Lass  Cassa,  the  cantonment  at  San  Juan,  P.  R., 


63 


where  12,800  of  Porto  Rico's  drafted  men  are  in  training, 
three  "Y"  huts  have  been  erected  at  a  cost  of  $17,000. 

From  the  early  days  of  the  war  the  American  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
has  been  giving  financial  help  to  the  Belgian  army.  This 
work  started  about  the  same  time  that  the  work  for  the  pris- 
oners of  war  was  begun  and  has  gradually  expanded  until 
now  we  are  serving  the  whole  of  the  Belgian  army.  That 
work  is  similar  to  the  work  for  the  French,  British  and 
Italians. 

When  Portugal  came  into  the  war  last  Spring,  a  secretary 
who  had  gone  to  Portugal  from  Brazil,  to  organize  a  Y.  M. 
C.  A.  in  the  educational  center  of  the  Portuguese  world,  the 
University  of  Coimbra,  was  asked  by  the  Portuguese  Govern- 
ment to  organize  a  Red  Triangle  work  for  the  Portuguese 
contingent  in  France.  Many  of  the  leading  citizens  of  Por- 
tugal volunteered  for  this  work.  A  number  of  American  sec- 
retaries have  been  sent  to  reinforce  him. 

On  the  Saloniki  front,  the  troops  of  Great  Britain,  France 
and  Italy  have  been  served,  and  recently  a  request  has  come 
from  the  civil  and  religious  leaders  of  Greece  for  the  ex- 
tension of  this  service  to  the  army  of  Greece. 

Almost  every  night  hundreds  of  thousands  of  Australian 
and  New  Zealand  troops  were  landed  in  Egypt  during  the 
early  days  of  the  war  and  were  encamped  on  the  desert  sands 
outside  of  Cairo  under  the  Pyramids.  Cairo  is  the  vilest  of 
Oriental  cities.  The  American  Secretary  presented  the  need 
of  work  for  these  troops  to  the  board  of  directors  of  the 
Cairo  Association,  who  authorized  him  to  do  what  he  could 
and  to  expend  $100  provided  he  raised  it.  From  this  meager 
beginning  has  grown  the  work  which  has  spread  all  over 
Egypt,  out  into  the  Sahara  Desert  front,  about  which  little 
has  been  heard.  The  string  of  upwards  of  fifty  posts  lining 
the  Suez  Canal,  and  the  work  which  has  pushed  steadily  east- 
ward across  the  Desert  of  Sinai  and  up  into  Palestine,  estab- 
lished itself  in  auditoriums  and  now  is  following  General 
Allenby's  army,  keeping  up  with  the  vanguard. 

Mesopotamia  affords  another  chapter  of  romance  in  the 
world  story  of  "Y"  war  work. 

In  many  respects  the  German  East  African  battle  areas 
have  been  the  most  terrible.  The  Association  went  with  the 


64 


British  and  Australian  expedition  from  India  into  German 
East  Africa.  Because  of  the  effectiveness  of  their  work  the 
whole  commissariat  was  turned  over  to  them,  and  during 
all  these  months  they  have  kept  the  army  supplied.  When 
it  was  found  that  white  troops  could  not  live  in  the  climate, 
colored  soldiers  from  the  West  Indies  and  British  colonies 
in  Africa,  and  Indian  Sepoys  took  up  the  campaign.  The  As- 
sociation has  served  not  only  the  troops  but  the  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  savages  who  have  been  gathered  literally  from 
every  section  of  the  African  continent.  It  is  interesting  to 
know  that  these  ignorant  black  men  out  of  the  jungle  enjoy 
Charlie  Chaplin  and  other  movie  heroes  quite  as  much  as  the 
British  officers. 

The  Association  has  also  enlisted  the  aid  of  Tommy  Atkins 
in  teaching  these  savages  to  write  and  in  giving  to  the  chiefs 
the  rudiments  of  government,  sanitation,  hygiene,  and  other 
things  that  will  be  useful  when  they  return  to  their  scattered 
homes.  Think  what  it  will  mean  as  these  "boys"  make  their 
way  back  through  the  dark  trails  to  their  native  kraals,  and 
there,  sitting  by  the  village  fire,  tell  to  their  relatives  and 
neighbors  the  story  of  steamships,  railroad  trains,  big  guns, 
aeroplanes,  the  motion  pictures,  the  phonograph,  and  all  the 
things  to  which  we  have  grown  accustomed  gradually,  but 
which  have  been  sprung  on  them  all  at  once. 

In  India,  the  regular  work  of  the  Association  in  200  cities 
and  towns  has  been  changed  to  an  army  type  of  work,  serving 
the  Indian  troops,  the  British  territorials  who  have  been  gar- 
risoned in  India,  the  men  sent  back  to  recuperate  from  the 
campaigns  in  Mesopotamia  and  East  Africa  in  the  hospitals 
and  on  the  northwest  frontier. 

In  Brazil,  the  Association  has  responded  to  the  request  of 
the  government  for  the  introduction  of  the  Red  Triangle 
work  into  the  Brazilian  navy  and  the  army,  which  has  been 
mobilized  for  months. 

Cuba  also  has  called  for  this  service. 

The  boys  of  the  American  navy  have  been  splendidly  served 
by  the  Associations  at  Buenos  Aires,  Montevideo,  and  Rio 
de  Janeiro,  with  cooperation  of  the  Government  and  public 
committees,  the  government  in  each  case  financing  the  work 
and  lending  every  assistance. 


65 


The  Associations  of  China  and  Japan  have  given  gener- 
ously of  their  best  trained  and  most  experienced  men  for 
special  Red  Cross  and  Y.  M.  C.  A.  missions  in  Siberia  among 
the  prisoners  of  war,  while  the  Associations  of  Japan  have 
rendered  continuous  service  to  the  men  of  the  Railroad  and 
other  Commissions  sent  by  the  American  Government  to  Si- 
beria and  in  caring  for  the  thousands  of  Russians  and  others 
passing  through  these  port  cities. 


66 


IN  RUSSIA 


The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  has  stuck  to  its  post,  and  with  the  Red 
Cross  is  the  only  remaining  representative  of  western  civiliza- 
tion in  Russia. 

In  most  cases  a  regular  program  has  had  to  be  abandoned, 
since  the  needs  and  conditions  are  continually  changing,  and 
the  work  done  is  that  which  comes  to  hand. 

In  the  days  before  the  Brest-Litovsk  treaty,  "Y"  huts  were 
strung  along  the  whole  front,  just  as  they  are  in  France,  and 
in  the  threatening  weeks  following  the  disorganization  of  the 
army,  the  Association  secretaries  kept  open  their  huts  in  the 
field  as  long  as  there  were  soldiers  to  serve. 

One  secretary  in  a  report  of  his  work  at  that  time  writes : 
"As  long  as  there  were  men  in  uniform  going  here  and  there 
like  packs  of  wolves,  there  never  seemed  sufficient  reason  for 
quitting.  One  of  our  men  made  a  trip  over  some  twenty 
miles  of  front  line  trenches  just  two  days  before  the  Ger- 
mans advanced.  He  saw  but  fourteen  soldiers.  On  this  trip 
he  concluded  the  plans  for  turning  over  the  huts  and  ma- 
terials to  the  peasant  committees  of  the  villages  for  educa- 
tional purposes.  This  final  expression  of  goodwill  showed 
how  thoroughly  the  peasants  of  nearby  villages  understood 
and  appreciated  the  helpful  attitude  attempted  in  all  our 
work.  We  four  remaining  secretaries  secured  places  on  the 
staff  train  which  evacuated  Minsk  two  hours  ahead  of  the 
Germans  in  their  advance  into  Russia." 

During  the  eight  days  of  the  factorymen's  bloody  revolu- 
tion in  Moscow,  Y.  M.  C.  A.  men  worked  ceaselessly  among 
the  wounded  and  suffering,  while  their  work  was  repeatedly 
mentioned  in  dispatches.  A  special  correspondent  cabled  to 
his  papers : 

"A  unit  of  twenty-five  Y.  M.  C.  A.  secretaries  sent  to  Rus- 
sia from  America  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  rest  huts 
and  comfort  stations  and  serving  the  Russian  soldiers,  was 
in  the  city  during  the  fighting.  America  should  be  proud  of 
them,  for  during  the  severest  part  of  the  struggle  and  in  a 

67 


perfect  rain  of  bullets  these  men  risked  their  lives  scores  of 
times  in  moving  about  the  streets  and  gathering  up  the  dead 
and  wounded.    All  Moscow  appreciates  their  heroism/' 

Never  before,  in  the  dread  years  of  famine  and  oppression, 
have  the  Russians  been  in  greater  need  of  help.  Torn  by 
national  intrigue,  duped  by  demagogues,  poisoned  by  German 
propaganda,  starving,  and  utterly  wretched  in  body  and  soul, 
their  faith  in  human  kind  destroyed,  they  seem  to  await 
whatever  final  blow  the  fates  may  hold  for  them.  In  the 
midst  of  this  disaster,  the  "Y"  men  have  appeared  with  food, 
and  comfort,  a  warm  fire,  hot  coffee,  the  one  normal,  de- 
pendable source,  in  a  world  gone  mad.  Under  such  circum- 
stances, it  is  the  act  and  not  the  promise  that  wins  con- 
fidence. The  "Y"  does  not  talk  of  friendship,  but  lives  the 
part,  and  so  it  has  been  an  inestimable  factor  in  exemplifying 
America's  pledge  of  friendship  and  has  established  in  the 
Russian  heart  a  trust  in  the  United  States.  Its  work  has 
been  of  particular  value  in  paving  the  way  for  the  landing 
of  Allied  troops  in  Vladivostok,  where  they  have  been  re- 
ceived as  friends,  rather  than  as  enemies  as  the  Bolsheviki 
had  decreed. 

The  arrival  of  these  troops  has  sounded  another  call  for 
the  assistance  of  the  "Y",  and  its  operations  have  been  rapidly 
extended  to  these  expeditionary  forces,  who,  so  far  away 
from  home,  are  much  in  need  of  its  services.  Work  along  the 
same  line  was  conducted  last  winter  when  a  hut  was  opened 
at  Nagasaki  for  300  American  army  officers  sent  there  to 
take  over  the  Chinese  Eastern  Railway.  During  the  long 
winter  months,  the  "Y"  was  the  only  place  in  the  frozen  north 
where  the  Americans  could  in  any  measure  satisfy  their 
craving  for  home  or  find  normal  social  fellowship. 

The  "Y"  has  also  been  active  among  the  Russian  battalions 
in  France,  and  in  June  a  "Y"  secretary  was  cited  for  bravery 
and  recommended  for  the  Russian  order  of  St.  Stanislaus. 
The  citation  was  made  by  General  Lokhwitsky,  commanding  in 
France,  for  splendid  work  among  the  Russian  wounded  un- 
der fire,  and  keeping  up  the  morale  back  of  the  line. 

The  "Y"  has  a  great  opportunity  in  working  out  the  recon- 
struction and  restoration  of  that  great  country,  in  whatever 
degree  its  assistance  will  be  accepted.   The  first  work  lies 


68 


among  returning  soldiers  from  the  German  prison  camps, 
who  are  coming  back  by  the  car  load,  worse  than  corpses,  the 
sorriest  wrecks  of  beings,  starved,  ragged,  tubercular,  and 
dying  enroute. 


69 


WAR  WORK  BEGINNINGS 

In  the  autumn  of  1914,  soon  after  hostilities  began,  Dr. 
John  R.  Mott,  visited  the  principal  belligerent  countries  of 
Europe.  While  there  he  was  impressed  with  the  possibilities 
of  two  lines  of  Y.  M.  C.  A.  work.  One  was  that  for  soldiers 
in  active  service,  the  other  that  for  the  prisoners  of  war. 

Dr.  Mott  immediately  encouraged  national  leaders  of  the 
Association  in  France,  to  grasp  the  opportunity  to  initiate 
new  lines  of  activity  and  to  extend  the  lines  of  work  already 
undertaken  on  behalf  of  the  soldiers.  He  made  recommenda- 
tions for  the  development  of  work  for  prisoners  of  war. 

Upon  his  return  to  the  United  States,  Dr.  Mott  consulted 
with  members  of  the  International  Committee  and  designated 
A.  C.  Harte  and  C.  V.  Hibbard  as  special  representatives  to 
promote  these  lines  of  work  in  Europe. 

War  time  service  was  no  new  thing  for  the  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
It  had  its  beginning  in  the  efforts  of  the  Christian  Commis- 
sion headed  by  Dwight  L.  Moody,  during  the  Civil  War.  It 
expanded  notably  during  the  Spanish-American  War,  when 
both  army  and  navy  work  were  undertaken. 

Work  for  prisoners  of  war  was  initiated  under  the  neutral 
leadership  of  American  associations  on  a  reciprocal  basis. 
Any  concession  authorizing  helpful  work  for  prisoners  of 
war  in  any  country  was  to  be  made  the  means  of  securing  a 
corresponding  concession  from  the  enemy  country.  The 
work  developed  first  in  Great  Britain  and  in  Germany  and 
was  quickly  extended  to  France,  Austria-Hungary,  Italy,  and 
Russia.  The  vast  numbers  of  German  and  Austrian  pris- 
oners of  war  in  Russia  and  Russian  prisoners  of  war  in  Ger- 
many and  Austria-Hungary  caused  the  work  in  these  coun- 
tries to  assume  far  larger  proportions  than  in  any  other  field. 
Several  of  the  Governments  concerned  entrusted  considerable 
funds  to  Association  representatives  for  relief  work  among 
their  citizens  held  in  enemy  countries  and  an  extensive  educa- 
tional, social  and  religious  work  was  built  up  in  the  various 
countries.  Prisoners  of  war  were  encouraged  to  form  co- 
operative societies,  establish  prisoner  of  war  canteens  and 

70 


invalid  kitchens.  A  system  of  food  supply  parcels  from  neigh- 
boring neutral  countries  was  initiated  and  saved  many  thou- 
sands of  lives.  Men  among  the  prisoners  who  knew  a  trade 
as  for  example,  tailors,  shoemakers,  etc.,  were  supplied  with 
tools  and  assisted  to  maintain  the  clothing  equipment  of  the 
men  who  otherwise  might  be  in  serious  need.  Musical  or- 
ganizations were  established  and  provided  with  music  and 
instruments.  Veritable  universities  were  established  in  many 
of  the  camps.  Libraries,  reading  rooms,  theatres,  lectures 
and  religious  exercises  were  encouraged  in  the  Association 
buildings  which  were  established  in  the  various  camps. 

When  the  United  States  entered  the  war,  American  repre- 
sentatives had  to  be  withdrawn  from  Germany  and  ultimately 
from  the  Central  Powers.  As  far  as  possible  these  American 
secretaries  have  been  replaced  by  European  neutrals  and  the 
work  goes  on. 

Meantime,  the  work  for  French  soldiers  in  France  has 
rapidly  expanded  from  small  beginnings  to  the  point  where  it 
has  the  full  endorsement  of  the  War  Department  and  the  lead- 
ing generals.  The  French  Government  was  ready  to  provide 
1,300  buildings  with  the  necessary  furnishings  and  turn  these 
over  to  the  Association  for  the  extension  of  the  work  among 
the  French  soldiers.  General  Petain  and  Premier  Clemenceau 
have  expressed  the  most  cordial  appreciation  of  the  Associa- 
tion work  and  it  is  significant  as  an  element  making  for  vic- 
tory. 

All  this  experience  in  other  fields  seemed  fortunate,  almost 
providential,  for  it  furnished  a  preparatory  course  for  the 
service  on  a  far  larger  scale  which  the  Association  was  called 
upon  to  perform  for  Americans  when  the  United  States  en- 
tered the  war. 

In  Italy  a  work  similar  to  that  in  France  has  been  started 
and  is  now  undergoing  rapid  development.  As  in  France  this 
work  has  the  full  confidence  of  the  War  Department  and  the 
secretaries  are  afforded  every  convenience  for  their  work. 

In  Russia,  the  Association  was  carrying  forward  with  the 
greatest  progress  work  for  Russian  soldiers.  Huts  had  been 
erected  along  the  German  frontier  and  100  secretaries  were 
on  the  ground  when  the  treaty  of  Brest-Litovsk  terminated 
hostilities  and  the  Russian  army  disbanded.    The  secretaries 

71 


then  turned  their  hands  to  any  kind  of  work  which  would  be 
helpful  to  the  returning  soldiers  and  people  of  Russia.  This 
unfailing  devotion  of  the  Association  representatives  in  Rus- 
sia has  brought  a  rich  fruitage  in  the  continued  confidence 
and  friendly  support  of  all  the  parties  succeeding  each  other 
in  power  in  Russia  from  the  time  of  the  revolution  up  to 
the  present  writing. 

American  associations  have  sought  to  cooperate  with  the 
British  Association  in  work  for  the  army  in  Europe,  but  more 
especially  in  work  with  the  troops  of  the  British  Empire  in 
more  distant  parts  of  the  earth.  American  secretaries  are  at 
work  in  South  Africa,  Mesopotamia,  and  in  India.  Indeed 
several  of  the  American  secretaries  have  laid  down  their  lives 
in  these  fields. 


72 


BOYS'  "EARN  AND  GIVE"  DRIVE 


WHAT  IT  IS 

The  boys'  "earn  and  give"  division  of  the  United  War  Cam- 
paign is  an  integral  part  of  the  whole  effort  to  secure  $133,- 
000,000. 

[It  should  be  noted  that  this  chapter,  like  others  in  this 
Manual,  were  prepared  before  the  seven-fold  merger  was 
consummated.] 

With  the  slogan  "a  million  boys  behind  a  million  fighters", 
boys  between  12  and  20  years  of  age  everywhere  will  be  en- 
rolled to  "earn  and  give"  to  help  bring  comfort  and  cheer  to 
the  American  soldiers.  This  division  of  the  campaign  will 
be  known  as  the  Red  Triangle  Boys. 

Each  boy  who  enrolls  pledges  to  pay  from  his  own  earn- 
ings toward  the  work  of  the  four  agencies  united  in  the 
drive.  A  special  enrolment  button  and  a  window  banner 
will  be  given  to  each  boy  who  pledges.  An  engraved  certifi- 
cate-receipt will  be  given  on  completion  of  his  payments, 
which  may  be  in  installments  as  with  adults. 

Boys  will  be  encouraged  to  give  a  sum  that  will  provide 
for  one  soldier  or  sailor  the  privileges  of  the  four  agencies 
for  at  least  three  months.  This  costs  approximately  $5.00 
for  each  American  fighter.  Some  boys  will  wish  to  provide 
these  privileges  for  six  months  or  even  a  year  and  hence  will 
enroll  to  "earn  and  give"  $10,  or  even  $50.  No  boy  will  be 
allowed  to  secure  gifts  for  any  part  of  his  pledge. 

THE  CHIEF  AIM 

a  The  chief  aim  of  the  "earn  and  give"  effort  is  the  de- 
velopment in  boys  of  intelligent,  sacrificial  investment  of 
their  lives  in  behalf  of  the  "great  cause."  The  appeal  is  to 
"earn  and  give." 

b  The  boys'  "earn  and  give"  division  of  the  campaign  must 
again  prove  an  inspiration  and  stimulus  to  increased  effort  by 


73 


men  in  the  general  campaign.  Last  year,  men,  learning  that 
boys  were  paying  a  sacrificial  price  on  the  "earn  and  give" 
basis,  gave  larger  amounts  and  worked  harder  for  the  cause. 

WHO  FOR  SPEAKERS 

Speakers  from  out  of  town  who  are  to  address  adults  fre- 
quently can  be  made  available  for  boys'  meetings,  at  schools 
or  stores,  or  shops. 

Special  speakers  to  boys  should  be  secured  and  routed  by 
the  department  and  state  speakers'  bureaus. 

Local  men  with  particular  talent  in  speaking  to  boys  should 
be  enlisted  to  talk  to  boys  at  home  and  in  neighboring  cen- 
ters. These  can  frequently  be  secured  from  the  ranks  of 
business  or  professional  life. 

Returned  soldiers  or  war  workers  will  have  a  special  appeal 
to  boys.  If  they  are  inexperienced  in  talking  to  boys,  they 
can  be  secured  to  share  the  allotted  time  with  men  accus- 
tomed to  this  work  but  who  are  minus  the  actual  story  from 
the  front. 

A  few  carefully  selected  and  trained  older  boys  can  be 
secured  from  the  colleges,  school,  or  from  the  ranks  of 
employed  boys. 

SPEAKERS'  SUGGESTIONS 

1  For  general  audiences : — All  speakers  should  share  in 
responsibility  to  promote  the  boys'  division  of  the  campaign. 

2  For  meetings  of  boys : — a  The  best  "appeal"  to  boys  is 
to  make  real  to  them  the  hard  price  our  own  soldiers  and 
sailors  are  paying  "over  there"  and  then  present  a  challenge 
for  boys  here  to  share  by  assuming  difficult  tasks  with  a  simi- 
lar sacrificial  spirit.  The  record  of  some  particularly  hard 
and  disagreeable  job  cheerfully  assumed  and  thoroughly  done 
by  a  soldier  or  sailor  will  bring  more  results  with  boys  than 
will  the  mere  recital  of  some  deed  of  daring.  The  little  book 
by  H.  Hagedorn,  "You  are  the  Hope  of  the  World",  gives 
good  illustration  of  this  principle  and  stimulates  one's  imagi- 
nation. 

b  A  few  human  interest  stories  of  the  work  of  the  "Y" 
and  the  other  campaign  agencies  will  hold  the  attention  and 


74 


secure  the  cooperation  of  boys  where  a  detailed  story  of  the 
work  of  their  organizations  would  fail.  Pick  from  "The 
House  the  'Y'  Built,"  the  most  suggestive  facts  and  tell  them 
in  a  simple  but  virile  way,  remembering  that  the  boys  to  whom 
the  message  goes  in  most  cases,  will  be  mature  enough  to 
stand  straight-f rom-the-shoulder  blows. 

c  Briefly  tell  the  plan  of  the  "Red  Triangle  Boy's"  effort 
as  outlined  above. 

d  Give  one  or  two  human  interest  stories  from  last  year's 
campaign. 

e  Present  a  digest  of  the  form  of  enrolment  that  the  boys 
sign.   This  will  read  as  follows : 

"I  hereby  agree  to  be  one  of  'a  million  boys  behind 
a  million  fighters'  who  will  earn  and  give 
dollars  toward  the  United  War  Work  Campaign  Fund 
to  help  make  our  fighters  happy." 

/  In  presenting  the  opportunity  to  boys,  speakers  will 
wisely  tell  the  story  of  the  need  and  when  feasible,  leave  the 
solicitation  of  pledges  to  personal  visits  or  calls  by  workers. 
This  will  tend  to  emphasize  the  necessity  for  hard  work  and 
payment  in  full.  Whenever  it  becomes  necessary  to  take 
subscriptions  in  connection  with  meetings,  speakers  and  work- 
ers should  give  special  emphasis  to  the  need  for  early  and 
complete  payment  of  pledges. 

g  Urge  boys  to  form  a  solicitation  committee  under  the 
direction  of  the  general  campaign  to  secure  the  enrolment 
of  other  boys  in  the  school,  store  or  shop  to  earn  and  give. 

h  If  possible,  meet  with  a  small  group  of  the  most  inter- 
ested boys  after  the  meeting  and  show  the  details  of  the  plans 
as  outlined  in  American  Youth  and  the  special  booklets  listed 
below. 

i  Present  to  the  leaders  the  following  suggestions: — 
(1)  Secure  appointment  by  the  General  Campaign  Director 
of  a  boys'  division  committee  to  inaugurate  and  push  to  suc- 
cessful conclusion  enrolment  of  boys  to  earn  and  give  and  to 
pay  their  pledges  in  full.  In  larger  places  a  man  should  be 
designated  as  executive  secretary,  preferably  an  employed 
officer  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  another  as  an  employment 
secretary. 

(2)    Organize  the  men  and  older  boy  leaders  into  an  ef- 

75 


fective  working  force,  with  necessary  sub-committees  to  plan 
fully  the  effort  among  all  boys  between  12  and  20. 

(3)  Enlist  boys  to  pledge  to  earn  and  give  by  means  of 

(a)  Special  presentation  of  the  need, 

(b)  Personal  solicitation. 

(4)  Plan  for  and  help  provide  employment  for  those  who 
pledge  to  earn  and  give. 

(5)  Make  effective  a  plan  for  collecting  and  reporting 
the  pledges,  issuing  certificate-receipts,  etc. 

(6)  Carry  through  any  additional  program  of  activity  of 
the  "Red  Triangle  Boys"  which  may  later  be  found  desirable. 

SPECIAL  "EARN  AND  GIVE"  LITERATURE 

The  following  printed  matter  regarding  the  various  phases 
of  the  "earn  and  give"  division  of  the  campaign  are  intended 
for  speakers  and  workers.  A  request  from  the  nearest  cam- 
paign headquarters  will  make  the  pamphlets  available  at 
once. 

1  American  Youth  for  September,  1918  (reprint)  : — Con- 
tains organization  plans,  endorsements  of  campaign  leaders, 
and  publicity  plans. 

2  "What  $5  Will  Do" :— An  eight-page  illustrated  booklet, 
suggesting  in  boy  language  the  results  that  may  come  from  a 
five  dollar  investment. 

3  "On  Uncle  Sam's  Team" : — A  pamphlet  showing  how 
boys  can  team  up  to  help  win  the  war. 

4  "How  Boys  Can  Earn" : — An  eight-page  illustrated 
booklet  giving  many  suggestions  as  to  how  boys  can  "earn  in 
order  to  give." 

5  American  Youth  for  October,  1918: — The  entire  edi- 
tion of  this  paper  will  be  given  over  to  important  information 
and  illustration  regarding  the  "Red  Triangle  Boys". 


76 


HUMAN  INTEREST  STORIES 


Use  them  if  you  are  hard  up  for  illustrations.  Probably 
you  have  much  better  ones  of  your  own.  If  so,  by  all 
means  pass  these  up,  for  a  story  told  at  second-hand  loses 
much  of  its  force. 

Here  are  two  rather  rough  and  ready  tributes  of  the  sort 
that  the  "Y"  secretary  prizes  the  most  because  of  their  evi- 
dent sincerity: 

"If  a  feller  can  have  his  tobaccy  and  have  sump'n  to  think 
about  cept'n  mud  and  drhTn  and  gettin*  the  devil,  he  can 
keep  sober  a  tol'ble  long  time." 

And  the  second : 

"Say,  you  hain't  a  Y.  M.  C.  A.  man,  be  you?" 

"You  be?  My  Gawd,  I'm  glad  to  see  you  here.  You  know 
the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  is  the  greatest  thing  in  the  world.  It  sure 
helps  keep  a  man  ofFn  likker." 

He  was  pastor  of  a  fashionable  church  in  a  big  Eastern 
city. 

He  donned  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  uniform  and  was  appointed 
religious  work  secretary  at  Camp  Lee  where  much  of  his 
time  was  spent  visiting  the  men  in  the  hospital. 

One  day  when  he  had  finished  writing  a  letter  home  for  a 
boy,  he  asked  the  young  man  whether  there  was  anything 
more  he  could  do  for  him. 

"Nothing  I  would  like  better  than  to  have  a  shave,"  came 
the  reply. 

The  clergyman  turned  barber  and  performed  this  service. 
But  that  was  not  all.  There  were  others  who  suddenly  con- 
ceived an  ardent  desire  to  be  shaved. 

"I'm  next,  barber,"  came  from  a  couple  of  dozen  throats. 

The  preacher  assumed  the  role  that  was  thrust  upon  him 
and  went  down  the  line,  shaving  every  man  who  requested 
him  to  do  so. 

"He's  a  regular  guy,"  was  the  comment  of  one  who  later 

77 


learned  that  the  tonsorial  artist  was  not  a  regular  barber,  but 
a  clergyman. 

Three  soldiers  suffering  from  shell  shock  unconsciously- 
provided  a  laboratory  demonstration  on  board  a  returning 
transport;  of  how  deeply  the  Red  Triangle  burns  itself  into 
the  consciousness  of  the  American  soldier  in  France. 

Physically  well,  but  mentally  dazed,  benumbed  and  inco- 
herent, these  three  strapping  big  fellows  resisted  every  effort 
to  strike  a  responsive  chord  in  their  memories.  One  day, 
walking  on  deck,  they  paused  before  a  Y.  M.  C.  A.  man. 
One  of  them  reached  out  and  falteringly  touched  the  Red  Tri- 
angle on  the  "Y"  man's  coat  sleeve,  that  insignia  of  service 
every  war  work  secretary  wears.  A  smile  overspread  the 
soldier's  face.  He  called  the  attention  of  the  other  two  to 
the  bit  of  red,  and  one  of  them  slowly  murmured,  "Ah,  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A."  It  was  the  first  recognizable  phrase  he  had 
spoken  since  his  nerves  were  shattered  in  the  trenches. 

Numerous  secretaries  have  reported  that  phonographs  have 
had  an  interesting  influence  on  the  musical  taste  of  the  sol- 
diers. The  high  grade  orchestral  and  operatic  records  they 
hear  on  the  phonograph  are  believed  to  have  awakened  their 
appreciation  of  the  soloists  and  opera  singers  who  have  gone 
abroad  to  sing  for  the  men  in  the  trenches. 

Meeting  the  incoming  soldiers  and  sailors  at  points  of 
debarkation  and  concentration  in  France  and  in  this  country 
is  another  of  the  ubiquitous  services  of  the  "Y"  men. 

One  night,  at  a  lonely  village  in  France,  the  "Y"  secretary 
heard  that  a  small  detachment  of  27  Americans  was  due  on 
the  11  o'clock  train.  In  the  midst  of  a  terrific  storm,  he  met 
them  at  the  station,  took  them  to  the  "Y"  canteen  for  "a  good 
meal"  and  placed  at  their  disposal  shower  baths  and  com- 
fortable cots  at  the  "Y." 

"You're  the  boy,"  exclaimed  the  greatly  relieved  officer  in 
command  when  he  saw  the  "Y"  man  at  the  station.  "All  the 
way  up  we  were  wondering  where  we  would  sleep  tonight." 

The  next  morning,  when,  washed,  shaved,  shined  up  and 
rested,  the  detachment  was  about  to  leave,  a  "Yank"  ap- 
proached the  "Y"  man. 


78 


"Say,  there's  only  one  thing  wrong  with  this  place,"  he 
said,  speaking  confidentially  into  the  ear  of  the  secretary. 
"What's  that?"  wondered  the  "Y"  man. 
"You  didn't  tuck  us  in  bed  and  kiss  us  good  night." 

One  new  thing  has  been  added  to  baseball  in  France.  That 
is  an  innovation  in  the  box  score. 

Over  here,  you  frequently  see  the  line — "Game  called  on 
account  of  rain."  Over  there,  it  is  more  likely  to  be — "Game 
called  on  account  of  shells." 

A  soldier  just  back  from  battle  encountered  a  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
man  who  who  had  gone  through  it  all  with  the  fighters,  giv- 
ing them  chocolate,  hot  drinks  and  cigarettes. 

"Say,  what  I  like  about  you  fellers,"  he  said,  "is  the  way 
you  go  over  the  top  with  us  when  you  don't  have  to.  It's  part 
of  our  job  but  not  yours.  It  strikes  me  you  are  the  real  vol- 
unteers in  this  war." 

Gypsy  Smith,  the  evangelist,  in  speaking  of  his  experi- 
ences in  the  camps  in  France,  tells  the  following  incident : 

"To  begin  with,  the  men  have  confidence  in  the  Red  Tri- 
angle. They  don't  stop  to  ask  what  you  are.  They  don't 
know  what  I  am,  whether  Church  of  England,  Roman  Catho- 
lic, Baptist,  or  Methodist.  If  a  man  has  a  message  they  are 
ready  to  listen  to  him. 

"For  a  week  I  had  been  speaking  to  a  regiment  made  up 
mostly  of  Roman  Catholic  men.  I  did  not  attack  their  de- 
nomination. At  the  end,  one  of  them  came  up  to  me  and 
said : 

"  'Sure,  yir  riv'rence,  ye're  a  gintleman.' 
"How  do  you  know?"  said  I. 

"  'I  feel  it  here,'  said  he,  with  his  hand  at  his  heart. 
"Well,  I  said,  you  can  have  it  all  at  the  same  price  I 
paid  for  it. 

"  'But,  begorra/  said  he,  'you'll  be  askin'  me  to  give  up;  my 
religion/ 

"Do  you  think  I  should  be  such  a  fool?"  said  I.  "Whatever 
you  have  that  is  good,  keep." 

"  'Well,'  he  said,  'What  have  I  to  give  up  ?' 

79 


"Nothing  at  all,"  said  I,  "but  your  sin." 
"  'Sure/  he  said,  'y°u're  a  gintleman.' " 

A  professional  gambler  who  had  been  trying  to  go  straight 
but  did  not  find  the  path  very  smooth  in  civil  life  "handed" 
this  much  to  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  war  worker  in  a  big  canton- 
ment : 

"I  have  been  in  this  camp  for  two  weeks  and  this  is  the 
first  time  in  ten  years  that  I  have  been  where  everybody 
wanted  to  try  and  help  a  feller  be  what  he  wants  to  be." 

It  was  after  the  engagement  at  Chateau-Thierry,  a  Y.  M. 
C.  A.  secretary,  who  had  gone  forward  with  the  battalion  he 
served,  as  stretcher  bearer,  was  bringing  back  a  young  fellow 
so  badly  wounded  that  it  was  obvious  he  could  live  only  a 
few  hours.  The  secretary  recognized  him  as  a  manly  "non- 
com"  who  had  gotten  into  a  number  of  scrapes  and  had  fre- 
quently come  to  him  for  help  and  advice.  The  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
man  had  written  home  for  this  boy  and  had  received  some 
touching  letters  from  both  his  parents,  urging  him  to  watch 
out  for  their  son  and  to  give  him  a  warning  concerning  some 
of  his  weaknesses.  Consequently  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  secretary 
had  been  pretty  much  of  a  father  to  him. 

The  wounded  boy  was  still  able  to  talk. 

"Well,  son,  I  guess  you  want  me  to  write  to  the  folks  for 
you.    What  shall  I  say?"  asked  the  "Y"  man. 

"Be  sure  to  tell  them  one  thing,"  the  soldier  replied, — "Tell 
them  I  kept  straight  and  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  helped  me  to  do  it." 

Two  hours  later  the  soldier  died. 

An  ingenious  camp  secretary  near  Washington  showed  how 
one  may  "swat  the  devil"  by  indirection. 

A  motion  picture  house  opened  up  near  his  camp,  frankly 
advertising  that  it  was  going  to  put  on  pictures  that  would 
"go  the  limit."    This  house  was  to  be  open  once  a  week. 

The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  secretary  concluded  that  it  wouldn't  do 
much  good  to  preach  to  the  men  in  that  camp  about  immoral 
movie  shows. 

Instead,  he  rounded  up  two  ex-professional  welterweights, 


80 


enlisted  men  in  the  camp,  found  a  vaudeville  headliner  and 
put  on  a  combination  theatrical  show  and  boxing  exhibition 
on  the  same  night  that  the  nearby  movie  house  was  opened. 
The  attendance  at  the  movie  house  was  slim  and  the  Y.  M. 
C.  A.  hut  was  crowded.  The  movie  show  lasted  just  two 
more  evenings  against  further  competition  of  the  same  sort, 
and  quit. 

A  Hun  shell  had  felled  a  great  tree  in  No  Man's  Land  and 
ten  Americans  had  been  sent  over  the  top  to  hold  this  out- 
post in  the  crater.  A  Red  Triangle  man,  arriving  at  the 
front  line  for  his  regular  Sunday  services,  heard  of  them 
and  with  his  bag  well  filled  with  supplies  cautiously  followed 
their  trail  through  the  tangle  of  ugly  barbed  wire.  He  found 
ten  men  sitting  low  in  the  crater  under  the  shadow  of  the 
tree  roots.  Snipers  would  have  picked  off  anyone  who  stood. 
They  represented  eight  different  denominations,  but  they  did 
not  care  about  that.   They  wanted  Sunday  services. 

So  with  trench  mortars  bellowing  and  high  explosives 
whining  overhead,  the  older  man  with  the  Red  Triangle  on 
his  uniform  spoke  about  "peace  in  the  individual  heart"  in 
the  centre  of  war's  whirlpool. 

"We're  going  to  write  home  that  we've  been  to  church  in 
No  Man's  Land,"  one  soldier  told  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  man  be- 
fore he  started  back  over  his  perilous  trail.  "We'll  never 
forget  this  Sunday — if  we  ever  get  out  of  this  crater.  It's 
made  better  men  of  us." 

An  ex-prize  fighter,  who  had  been  a  figure  in  the  sporting 
world,  breezed  up  to  a  secretary  after  he  had  been  helped 
by  a  Y.  M.  C.  A.  man  and  remarked,  "I'm  damn  glad  that  the 
Association  has  taken  an  interest  in  me,"  and  then  asked 
the  secretary  to  come  out  and  hold  a  Bible  class  in  his 
squad. 

"Perhaps  they  might  object,"  the  secretary  urged. 
"If  they  do,  I'll  break  their  bloody  necks." 

A  young  western  woman  is  stationed  with  about  a  dozen 
other  workers  at  the  navy  hut  at  Brest.  All  day  sailors  from 
the  destroyers  filter  through  the  hut. 

81 


• 


"Sometimes,  I  think  work  for  the  Navy  is  more  difficult 
than  any  other  kind,"  this  woman  secretary  said,  "because  we 
only  see  the  men  when  they  are  at  leisure." 

One  afternoon  a  young  sailor  began  "kidding"  this  secre- 
tary. 

"Why,  you  are  only  here  for  the  fun  of  the  thing,"  he  said. 
"Why,  if  I  gave  you  my  address  and  asked  you  to  write  to 
me,  you  would  probably  forget  all  about  it." 

"Let's  have  the  address." 

Four  months  later  the  sailor  came  back  to  the  hut  again. 

"You  wrote  me  a  letter  as  you  promised,"  he  said,  to  the 
same  secretary.  "Oh,  but  I  bet  you  have  forgotten  all  about 
that  and  forgotten  me  as  well." 

"Oh,  no,  I  haven't.  You  are  Walter  Whitford,"  (only  this 
is  not  his  correct  name)  "and  I  am  glad  to  see  you  again." 

Later  on  that  day,  the  "Y"  worker  overheard  the  sailor 
and  another  boy  talking  of  an  engagement  they  had  at  four 
o'clock.  At  the  tone  of  their  conversation  she  became  sus- 
picious, and  when  they  left  the  hut,  she  determined  to  fol- 
low them,  although  then  uncertain  of  just  what  course  to 
pursue.  Meeting  them  down  the  street,  she  invited  them  to 
look  over  an  old  chateau  and  other  places  of  interest  in  the 
vicinity  and  when  tea  time  came  asked  them  to  go  back  to 
the  hut  with  her  for  hot  chocolate.  Several  hours  later  when 
they  were  leaving  the  hut,  one  of  them  remarked,  with  a 
twinkle  in  his  eye,  "Well,  Mrs.  B.  has  kept  us  in  the  straight 
and  narrow  path  today." 

The  first  secretary  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  to  be  killed  in  France 
and  also  the  first  American  victim  of  a  Paris  air  raid  was 
Miss  Winona  Martin,  of  Rockville  Center,  L.  I. 

Miss  Martin  was  lying  ill  in  a  hospital  when  a  Boche  avia- 
tor dropped  a  bomb  through  the  roof,  killing  the  American 
girl  and  four  other  women. 

This  is  the  description  of  the  funeral  service  for  her,  writ- 
ten to  the  Home  Office  by  a  Y.  M.  C.  A.  secretary: 

"It  was  a  strangely  solemn  meeting  in  the  church  so  far 
away  from  America.  The  group  of  Y.  M.  C.  A.  secretaries 
in  their  army  uniform;  in  the  high  pulpit  the  clergyman,  also, 
in  military  uniform;  the  coffin  draped  with  the  flag  of  America 

82 


and  heaped  with  the  flowers  of  France.   There  was  no  sermon 
as  her  sacrifices  spoke  more  eloquently  than  words. 

"I  have  read  her  record  card  at  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  headquar- 
ters in  Paris.  On  it  in  her  own  handwriting  are  the  words 
'For  the  duration  of  the  war  and  longer  if  required'." 

Many  of  the  religious  services  over  there  are  far  from 
formal. 

The  "Y"  men  have  found  shell  craters  in  No  Man's  Land 
most  convenient  places  at  times  for  church  services.  Pews 
and  pulpits  are  dispensed  with.  Frequently  a  camouflaged 
gun  emplacement  is  the  sanctuary  and  the  gun  butt  is  the 
pew.  In  a  village  under  fire  gatherings  were  prohibited,  so 
a  thin  line  of  men  backed  against  the  walls  along*  the  street,  * 
while  the  speaker  flattened  himself  out  against  the  opposite 
wall. 

Men  seated  on  the  firing  step  of  trenches  have  listened 
eagerly  to  words  of  comfort.  While  in  an  outpost  two  sat 
looking  out  into  No  Man's  Land  with  their  automatics  handy, 
but  as  much  at  the  religious  service  as  were  those  Pilgrim 
Fathers  who  carried  their  match-locks  to  church. 

In  a  little  summer  house  of  an  old  chateau,  men  gathered 
Sunday  mornings  about  a  round  table,  while  others  heard 
"Y"  men  speak  from  the  pitcher's  box  of  a  baseball  diamond. 

In  a  French  port  town  is  a  Y.  M.  C.  A.  hut  entirely  devoted 
to  serving  sailors.  Behind  the  counter  is  a  small  gray-haired 
woman  who  used  to  have  a  boy  in  the  Navy. 

His  ship  was  torpedoed.  It  sank  quickly.  There  was  time 
only  to  get  away  two  or  three  rafts.  Officers  and  crew  went 
into  the  water  together.  It  was  every  man  for  himself.  There 
were  not  enough  rafts  for  everybody.  This  woman's  son  was 
a  Lieutenant.  He  swam  from  one  raft  to  another  to  make 
sure  every  possible  one  was  saved.  Then  because  his  raft 
was  sagging  with  the  weight,  he  dropped  quietly  off  the  side 
and  let  himself  go  down. 

The  Navy  knows  this  story.  The  sailors  know  this  mother 
is  trying  to  take  her  son's  place  where  he  left  off — taking  care 
of  the  bluejackets.  The  way  they  speak  to  her,  and  look  at 
her,  attests  their  reverence  for  her. 


83 


SOME  BOYS'  "EARN  AND  GIVE"  STORIES 

A  high  school  boy  with  only  one  arm,  beat  rugs  for  days 
and  came  in  with  blistered  hand  to  make  his  first  payment 
toward  the  $20  which  he  later  paid.  He  voluntarily  set  out 
to  do  this,  in  order  that  he  might  give  one  certificate  to  a 
school  boy  friend  who  could  not  work  because  of  physical 
deformities  and  a  frail  body.  The  friend  used  crutches,  both 
legs  being  in  iron  braces. 

A  Texas  boy  from  a  good  home  and  without  experience  in 
roughing  it,  learned  to  milk  cows  and  earned  his  money, 
getting  up  at  5  :30  in  the  morning  during  the  season  to  ac- 
complish this. 

A  boy  of  German  parentage,  with  some  of  his  people 
strongly  pro-German,  not  only  earned  $10  for  the  War  Work 
Fund  but  afterward,  as  a  result  of  the  enthusiasm  gained, 
purchased  a  $50  Liberty  Bond,  joined  the  Red  Cross  and 
sold  $300  worth  of  War  Savings  Stamps. 

It  is  stated  that  the  boys  in  Iowa  gave  a  larger  per  capita 
amount  in  the  last  campaign  than  did  the  men  of  that  state, 
if  the  corporation  subscripions  are  deducted  from  the  total 
results. 


84 


"COMEBACKS" 

ANSWERS  TO  CRITICISMS 

Criticisms  against  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  must  be  met  fairly 
and  squarely  in  this  campaign.  Mistakes  have  been  made 
and  it  would  be  surprising  if  among  the  thousands  of  in- 
dividual workers  some  did  not  measure  up  to  the  Associa- 
tion ideals  and  did  not  commit  errors  in  judgment. 

Remember  that  the  best  answer  to  criticisms  is  to  set 
forth  the  enormous  work  the  Association  is  carrying  on. 
The  Y.  M-  C.  A.  war  work  needs  no  apologies.  Unless 
specific  questions  are  raised  it  would  be  better  to  ignore 
criticisms. 

If  some  one  does  voice  specific  criticisms,  or  if  in  your 
community  there  is  a  widely  prevalent  fault-finding  upon 
some  particular  point,  meet  the  situation  squarely.  It  is. 
more  than  likely  that  objections  raised  are  covered  in  the 
statement  below.  Facts  concerning  conditions  about  which 
center  the  principal  criticisms  against  the  Association  War 
Work  follow: 

1    Has  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  overcharged  for  goods  sold  in 
France,  through  its  canteens  and  post  exchanges,  to  men  in 
niform? 

Answer:  It  formerly  charged  more  at  times  than  army 
commissary  sales  stores,  but  it  never  made  a  profit  nor  sought 
to  do  so.  The  army  sells  goods  here  and  in  France  at  first 
cost  which  is  not  affected  by  insurance,  the  tremendous  ex- 
penses of  transportation  overseas,  storage  after  arrival,  nor 
the  long  hauls  for  distributing  them.  The  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  up 
until  August  1,  sought  only  to  come  out  even  upon  goods  it 
sold, — hence  it  added  these  overhead  charges.    It  should  be 

mphasized  that  large  quantities  of  food,  sweets  and  tobacco 
have  been  given  away  to  men  as  they  went  into  and  came  out 
of  the  front  line  trenches. 

Within  a  short  time  it  was  seen  that  the  double  price 
standard,  though  perfectly  understandable  after  it  had  been 
explained,  caused  endless  confusion  and  criticism.  Hence, 

eginning  August  1,  all  Y.  M.  C.  A.  commodities  were  ordered 


85 


to  be  sold  at  exactly  the  same  price  as  that  charged  at  the 
army  post  exchanges.  Because  of  no  allowance  by  the  Army 
for  transportation  and  other  overhead  charges,  nor  fof  loss 
by  sinking  of  cargoes,  the  new  arrangement  will  represent 
a  gift  to  the  men  of  from  two  to  three  million  dollars  a 
year. 

In  one  particular  instance,  some  gift  tobacco  became  mixed 
in  the  Quartermaster's  stores.  It  was  sold  to  the  Associa- 
tion which,  in  turn,  sold  it  to  the  men  at  the  post  exchanges. 
The  error,  when  discovered  was  frankly  admitted  by  the 
Quartermaster's  Department  and  explanations  made  to  the 
men.  Raymond  B.  Fosdick,  Chairman  of  the  Commission  on 
Training  Camp  Activities,  upon  returning  from  an  investiga- 
tion of  auxiliary  agencies  in  Europe  was  quoted  by  the  New 
York  Times  as  saying: 

"I  should  like  to  take  this  opportunity  to  remove  a  mis- 
apprehension about  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  which  has  gained 
considerable  ground,  not  only  with  our  fellows  abroad, 
but  with  the  people  back  home,  and  that  is  that  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  is  making  money  out  of  the  canteens  which 
it  is  operating  for  the  forces.    At  General  Pershing's 
request  I  went  into  this  matter  thoroughly,  and  the  re- 
port is  absolutely  without  foundation.    I  mention  this 
matter  only  because  the  widespread  rumor  is  most  un- 
fair to  an  organization  which  is  doing  heroic  service." 
2    Is  it  true  that  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  accepts  for  overseas  duty 
as  secretaries  men  who  are  not  affiliated  with  the  Evangelical 
Christian  Churches? 

Answer :  Yes,  this  is  a  national  crisis  and  not  a  denomina- 
tional war.  The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  is  asked  to  work  among  the 
troops,  from  a  military  standpoint,  to  sustain  morale,  and  not 
primarily  for  missionary  effort.  The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  is  called 
upon  to  minister  to  men  of  all  religious  denominations  and 
to  men  who  do  not  acknowledge  any  religious  connections.  It 
works  in  close  harmony  with  the  Knights  of  Columbus,  and 
the  Jewish  Welfare  Board,  Army  Chaplains  and  with  every 
other  group  seeking  the  same  end — that  is,  the  improvement 
of  the  morale  of  our  fighting  men.  It  was  in  a  spirit  of  the 
broadest  Christianity  that  a  number  of  men  who  might  not 
be  classed  as  strictly  orthodox,  but  whose  motives  and  ideals 


86 


are  high,  were  sent  over  by  the  Association  to  engage  in  the 
common  service. 

3  Is  it  true  that  in  remitting  money  of  soldiers  to  the 
United  States,  through  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  there  have  been  ir- 
regularities or  delays? 

Answer:  Delays,  yes.  Irregularities,  none.  The  reason 
for  delays  is  that  the  secretary  who  receives  the  money  at  a 
hut  in  France  may  not  have  an  opportunity  to  report  to 
Paris  headquarters  more  than  once  or  twice  a  week.  Missing 
a  boat  from  Paris  will  delay  the  remittance  still  longer  and 
there  is  bookkeeping  to  be  done  both  in  the  Paris  and  New 
York  offices  relative  to  these  remittances.  Meanwhile,  the 
soldier's  letter  stating  he  has  sent  money  may  go  directly 
home.  In  this  way  delays  of  two  or  three  weeks  have  come 
about. 

4  Is  it  true  excessively  high  salaries  are  being  paid  to 
Association  secretaries? 

Answer:  So  far  as  can  be  ascertained  the  overseas  salary 
scale  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  is  lower  than  that  of  other  organi- 
zations in  Europe  which  are  serving  the  men.  The  regular 
scale  of  salaries  is  approximately  $2,100  a  year  for  a  married 
man  and  $1,200  a  year  for  an  unmarried  man.  This  scale  is 
based  on  large  experience.  Careful  experiments  were 
made  as  to  how  much  men  should  receive  to  meet  their  ex- 
penses in  Europe  and  discharge  their  necessary  obligations 
financially  to  their  families  here.  Association  men  always  are 
told  that  they  are  expected  to  work  on  a  military  or  mission- 
ary basis.  Of  course,  the  soldier's  salary  is  much  lower  but 
the  situation  is  equalized  by  the  fact  that  he  has  his  food  and 
lodging  provided  by  the  Government,  which  is  not  the  case 
with  the  Association  workers.  Hundreds  of  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
workers  have  given  up  far  larger  salaries  to  go  abroad. 
Many  others  receive  no  salaries. 

5  Why  does  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  distribute  tobacco  to  men 
overseas  when  it  opposes  its  use  here? 

Answer:  There  are  two  good  reasons  for  this.  First: 
The  Government  officially  requested  the  Association  to  take 
over  the  commissaries  which  necessarily  sold  tobacco.  Sec- 
ond :  Conditions  of  stress  and  strain  and  exposure  in  the 
front  line  trenches  are  such  that  men  instinctively  turn  to 

87 


tobacco.  Our  strongest  Christian  men  who  have  been  over 
there  have  felt  that  for  the  period  of  the  war  an  essential  part 
of  the  service  for  the  enlisted  men  is  in  keeping  them  sup- 
plied with  tobacco.  Ministers  who  are  strong  opponents  of 
the  tobacco  habit  in  normal  times,  upon  returning  from 
France,  have  strongly  endorsed  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  policy  over- 
seas in  that  regard. 

Arthur  Gleason,  author,  magazine  contributor,  writing  in 
The  Survey  for  July  6,  1918,  states : 

"There  is  a  group  of  persons  at  home  who  are  unaware 
of  the  bitter  temptations  of  lonely  men  and  who  seek  to 
legislate  repressively  for  them.  It  would  be  impossible 
for  the  Red  Triangle  to  edit  its  canteen  against  tobacco, 
for  instance  (though  it  has  been  criticised  for  selling 
tobacco).  It  is  the  judgment  of  military  men  that  to- 
bacco is  interwoven  with  the  morale  of  fighting  men. 
Deprive  them  of  tobacco  and  the  results  are  discontent 
and  homesickness.  How  could  an  institution  dependent 
for  its  success  on  the  goodwill  of  officers  and  men  alike 
make  a  ruling  hostile  to  the  military  conception  of 
morale?  In  the  face  of  the  temptations  inevitable  to  a 
'stag-camp'  3,000  miles  away  from  normal  conditions,  it 
would  be  perilous  to  deprive  the  men  of  a  minor  allevia- 
tion for  loneliness,  idleness  and  wet  weather." 

6  Why  does  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  permit  card-playing  and 
dancing  in  its  huts? 

Answer :  Neither  is  encouraged.  In  an  extremely  limited 
number  of  cases  has  there  been  dancing  in  the  Association 
huts.  When  there  have  been  dances  they  have  been  under 
proper  chaperonage  and  conducted  with  every  propriety.  Re- 
member that  the  hut  is  the  soldiers'  home.  It  should  be 
noted  also  that  upon  most  occasions  when  there  has  been 
dancing  in  the  huts  it  has  been  when  the  buildings  were 
loaned  to  military  organizations.  As  for  card-playing — army 
regulations  permit  it.  Men  are  under  military  control  when 
in  the  huts  as  elsewhere  and  to  make  undue  restrictions  tends 
to  reduce  the  serviceability  of  the  huts  to  the  men.  The  fact 
we  are  facing  is  that  the  men  are  going  to  play  cards,  and 
they  had  better  be  doing  it  in  a  Y.  M.  C.  A.  hut  than  in  a 
great  many  other  places. 


88 


7  Is  it  true  that  overseas  secretaries  drink  light  wines  and 
beer? 

Answer:  They  do  not  if  they  conform  to  the  specific  rules 
prescribed  by  the  War  Personnel  Board  of  the  War  Work 
Council,  which  adopted  this  resolution :  "The  War  Person- 
nel Board  would  emphasize  the  importance  that  any  one  en- 
tering the  service  of  the  War  Council  be  unreservedly  will- 
ing to  maintain  not  alone  the  standards  set  by  the  Army  with 
reference  to  the  use  of  intoxicants,  but  also  to  maintain  the 
standards  expected  by  the  Army  and  the  American  home  of 
the  representatives  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A." 

******** 

Writing  in  a  recent  issue  of  The  Survey,  Arthur  Gleason 
comments  on  some  of  the  "kicks"  against  the  Association's 
War  Work  as  follows  : 

"I  could  write  a  slashing  criticism  of  the  work  of  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.,  and  I  could  load  and  color  it  with  many 
details  which  the  critics  have  missed,  but  for  all  that,  it 
would  not  be  a  true  picture.  It  is  impossible  to  create 
an  institution  at  one  stroke  in  the  war  zone  of  a  stricken 
country  which  will  run  with  the  well-oiled  efficiency  of 
the  Pennsylvania  Railroad.  Faults?  The  Red  Triangle 
in  France  has  many  of  them.  The  movie  machine  break* 
down  at  the  second  reel.  The  speaker  doesn't  arrive. 
The  singer  croaks  from  the  bad  weather.  The  war  zone 
on  a  wet  night  is  not  as  neatly  operating  an  affair  as  the 
Keith  House  at  Seventh  Avenue  in  our  home  city.  But, 
for  all1  that,  the  Red  Triangle  is  running  even  with  the 
Red  Cross  and  the  Army.  And  like  them,  it  is  growing 
better  every  month." 

"But  if  I  were  writing  a  criticism,  at  least  I  should 
have  the  grace  to  refrain  from  scoring  points  on  an  over- 
worked and  useful  organization  because  of  its  'unitarian- 
ism'  and  'smoking'.  The  Red  Triangle  is  trying  to  cheer 
up  nearly  half  a  million  lonely  boys  who  are  a  long  way 
from  home.  It  isn't  doing  it  in  a  unitarian  and  trinitar- 
ian — but  in  a  humanitarian  way.  It  wants  the  soldiers  to 
come  and  stay  and  feel  at  home.  It  doesn't  legislate  for 
the  personal  habits  in  minor  matters  like  smoking  for 
men  old  enough  to  fight  for  their  country.    It  regards 


89 


soldiers  as  self-respecting  human  beings  who  are  free 
agents.  It  doesn't  ask  as  a  test  for  admission  to  the  huts 
that  the  men  shall  sign  a  pledge  or  recite  a  creed.  It  asks 
no  questions. 

"Oddly  enough,  there  is  also  criticism  aimed  in  exactly 
the  opposite  direction.  The  New  York  Times  of  Febru- 
ary 17,  accuses  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  secretaries  of  discouraging 

the  soldiers  from  smoking.    'You  can  smoke,  but  / 

Having  been  pounded  for  several  months  for  its  policy 
of  selling  cigarettes,  cigars  and  pipe  tobacco  by  the  ton  to 
the  American  Army  and  for  running  a  social  club  with 
Sunday  baseball,  the  Red  Triangle  now  suddenly  faces  the 
charge  that  it  is  Puritanic,  'intolerant,  smug,  sectarian/ 

"Let  me  say  that  the  soldiers  smoke  freely  in  all  the 
huts,  and  that  a  number  of  'Y*  secretaries  smoke. 

"Another  charge  of  the  Times  is  that  official  workers 
must  be  members  of  a  Protestant  Evangelical  Church. 

"In  the  Red  Triangle  in  France,  there  are  Unitarians, 
Jews  and  those  who  subscribe  to  the  creed  of  no  church. 
I  am  not  a  church  member,  and  associated  with  me  in  a 
department  have  been  a  Jew  and  two  men  of  the  same 
undenominational  character  as  myself." 


90 


A  FEW  SAMPLES 


Here  are  the  outlines  of  some  speeches. 
It  might  be  well  to  read  them.  Then  forget 
them  and  go  ahead  and  make  your  own  speech. 

Above  all  things  don't  try  to  repeat  them 
verbatim.  In  them  are  the  germs  of  ideas 
around  which  you  may  build  speeches  pro- 
viding color  from  your  own  experiences, 
adding  to  them  your  own  personality  without 
which  any  speech  you  make  will  be  valueless. 

More  of  these,  setting  forth  appeals  adapted 
to  special  groups,  will  be  written  for  the  next 
edition  of  the  manual  by  men  who  have  been 
successful  in  appealing  to  these  special  groups. 


91 


HERE'S  A  TRUE  STORY 


YES,  IT  ACTUALLY  HAPPENED,  NOT  ONCEr 
BUT  THOUSANDS  OF  TIMES  IN  SCORES  OF 
CAMPS  AND  CANTONMENTS. 

Here  is  a  story  of  a  man  with  a  number,  and  a  whole 
string  of  aliases. 

Only  the  number  was  a  numeral  of  high  honor.  And  the 
aliases  were  symbols  of  home,  club,  workshop,  friends,  and 
church. 

John  B.  Crawford,  until  one  day  in  June,  1918,  had  been 
"Jack"  to  his  friends,  and  "Dad"  to  his  family,  and  "J.  B." 
to  men  at  his  office  and  "Deacon"  at  his  church. 

Well,  along  about  June,  1918,  Crawford  arrived  in  a  big 
cantonment,  checked  in  by  his  draft  board  as  Registrant  No. 
14,894. 

Of  course  he  was  not  called  by  a  number.  He  was  known 
as  Private  Crawford.  But  in  the  iteration  and  reiteration 
of  that  unvarying  appellation  he  sensed  the  monotony  of 
cantonment  life. 

Drill  and  lectures  were  interest  compelling.  But  after  that; 
a  vacuum. 

Here  he  was  in  a  big  city — 60,000  or  more  other  men. 
There  the  likeness  ceased. 

A  city  has  many  facets,  many  attractions,  many  places  of 
contact  for  the  young  business  American  who  wishes  to 
touch  life  at  every  worth-while  point. 

Crawford,  in  his  barracks,  comfortable  and  clean,  but  noth- 
ing more,  grew  cynical. 

"I'm  a  man  with  a  country,  all  right,"  he  mused  aloud. 
"But  Edward  Everett  Hale  ought  to  have  written  about  the 
man  without  a  home,  or  a  club,  or  a  library,  or  "a  theatre,  or  a 
friend." 

An  older  "rookie"  smiled,  and  beckoned. 
"Come  along,  I'll  show  you  something  you've  overlooked." 
He  went — that  was  Private  Crawford's  introduction  to  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A. 


92 


The  secretary  at  the  hut  he  visited  had  made  a  rule  for 
himself  and  his  staff.  It  is  now  pretty  general  in  all  "Y" 
huts.   It  was : 

"Never  let  a  man  greet  you  first.    Welcome  him." 

Crawford  got  a  hearty  handshake.  Perhaps  that  was  why 
he  wrote  home  later,  "These  *Y'  huts  have  the  small  town 
general  stores  backed  off  the  boards.  You  can  get  anything 
from  postage  stamps  to  Sweet  Caps  but  the  first  and  the  best 
services  the  huts  are  rendering  is  that  of  giving  companion- 
ship and  friends.  A  fellow  can  do  without  a  lot  if  only  he  has 
these  intangible  things." 

This  secretary  called  him  "Crawford".  Then  he  met  a  man 
from  his  home  town  who  termed  him  "Jack".  And  Crawford 
felt  his  personality,  which  somehow  had  been  cramped  and 
shrivelled,  expanding. 

That  evening  Crawford  attended  a  theatre.  The  next  eve- 
ning he  jovially  remarked,  "I'm  strolling  up  to  my  club."  On 
Sunday  he  went  to  church.  He  found  all  of  them  in  the  "Y" 
hut.  For  Crawford  had  an  imagination.  That  was  what 
had  made  Private  Crawford  "sore  on  this  army  thing."  And 
that  same  imagination  had  come  to  the  rescue  now  that  it 
had  an  outlet  again. 

The  theatre  was  in  the  "Hut"  of  course.  There  were  wood- 
en benches  and  rafters.  But  on  the  stage  were  a  grand  opera 
star,  and  an  actor  of  national  note,  and  a  vaudeville  top  liner. 
The  combination  could  not  have  been  seen  at  any  price  in 
private  life. 

As  for  friends  and  companionship — all  that  was  needed  was 
the  "Y"  sheltering  roof.  All  the  essentials  were  there — only 
a  common  meeting  place  was  needed.  For  nothing  knits 
men  so  closely  as  the  common  purpose  and  interests  of 
military  life.  Add  to  this  the  elements  of  common  suffering, 
sacrifice  and  dangers,  as  Crawford  realized  later  when  in 
France,  and  there  is  no  club  in  city  or  town  where  such  a 
fellow  feeling  is  created. 

The  "Y"  could  not  give  Crawford  his  home.  But  it  could 
come  "about  as  near  it  as  anything  this  side  of  my  own 
front  door,"  as  one  soldier  wrote  home.  And  it  gave  him 
materials  and  a  place  to  write  to  family  and  friends — and 


93 


he  seemed  to  grow  more  normal  again  as  he  signed  himself 
"Dad". 

Crawford  found  that  the  "Y"  did  not  stop  with  providing 
a  church,  a  club,  a  theatre,  and  a  home.  It  was  a  school,  a 
playhouse,  a  library,  a  canteen,  and  a  center  for  baseball, 
football  and  other  athletics. 

Crawford's  emotions  and  reactions  are  not  vague  and  elus- 
ive things.  Any  army  officer  will  tell  you  that  they  have  a 
lot  to  do  with  his  fighting  quality. 

All  the  institutions  of  modern  life  have  been  built  up  and 
preserved  to  meet  human  needs.  To  take  them  away  is  to 
throw  men  backward  by  centuries.  These  normal  institutions 
the  "Y"  seeks  to  retain  amid  the  abnormal  and  extraordinary 
conditions  of  training  and  fighting. 

Going  from  home  to  camp  means  infinitely  more  in  the  life 
of  a  young  man  than  a  change  of  abode.  He  may  have  no 
wife  nor  children,  but  he  has  assumed  other  responsibilities, 
he  has  ties,  parents  and  relatives  and  friends.  As  John  Kel- 
man  puts  it : 

"He  is  a  distinct  personality  among  his  mates  and  to  him- 
self he  is  an  object  of  an  almost  oppressive  sense  of  person- 
ality. 

"Suddenly  he  wakes  up  to  the  consciousness  that  the  army 
has  claimed  him  and  he  has  become  neither  more  nor  less 
than  No.  49,354.  With  that  discovery  the  whole  burden  of 
his  personal  responsibility  falls  from  his  shoulders  and  with 
a  new  freedom  and  irresponsibility  his  heart  becomes  the 
heart  of  a  little  child." 

The  "Y"  does  much  for  the  personal  convenience  of  the 
man  in  uniform.  It  executes  many  missions;  it  runs  many 
errands. 

But  nothing  the  "Y"  can  do  is  likely  to  be  of  such  inesti- 
mable service,  of  such  deep  and  lasting  value,  as  this  task  of 
maintaining  the  individual's  personality. 

"Personality"  no  longer  is  a  vague  word.  It  counts  in 
business  as  well  as  in  religion.  It  is  a  factor  in  life  uni- 
versally recognized.  The  aim  of  all  our  institutions,  of  our 
pulpits  and  our  schools,  is  to  enrich  it. 

The  "Y"  seeks  not  only  to  be  a  conserver  of  men.  It  aims 
to  preserve  and  enrich  the  best  in  every  man. 


94 


THIS  MIGHT  APPEAL  TO  BUSINESS  MEN 

Have  you  ever  heard  of  a  big  city  without  a  school,  a 
church,  a  store,  a  club,  a  motion  picture  theatre? 

No  matter  how  mushroom  the  town ;  these  things  exist. 
No  matter  how  run  down,  these  things  persist,  so  long  as 
human  beings  remain. 

Ask  yourself,  Why? 

If  they  were  not  needful  they  would  not  exist  universally. 
They  meet  a  deep-seated  human  need.  A  city,  so  called,  with- 
out them  would  be  a  monstrosity. 

No  need,  then,  to  ask  why  these  things  must  be  provided, 
in  a  cantonment  or  camp,  be  there  a  few  hundred  men  there, 
or  50,000. 

War  is  abnormal.  But  human  aspirations  and  needs  remain 
pretty  much  the  same. 

Your  boy,  your  neighbor's  boy,  retains  the  same  human 
cravings  when  he  puts  on  a  uniform.  He  has  the  same  whole- 
some desires  for  recreation,  for  companionship,  for  amuse- 
ment, for  worship,  that  he  had  at  home. 

If  he  does  not  get  these  things  in  a  normal  way  he  is  going 
to  seek  abnormal  and  harmful  substitutes. 

For  good  reason  the  Y.  M.  C,  A.  was  entrusted  with  pro- 
vision of  these  normal  accompaniments  of  daily  living.  You 
may  think  some  other  agency  might  have  done  better.  Per- 
haps. It  is  a  little  late  to  discuss  that  now.  The  military  au- 
thorities have  assigned  the  task  to  the  "Y." 

Turn  to  another  picture. 

Some  old  town  in  France.  Many  armies  have  passed 
through  these  ancient  streets,  but  never  an  army  like  this 
from  the  New  World.  Alert,  active,  vigorous  young  men, 
aglow  with  the  joy  of  living,  tingling  with  the  excitement  of 
getting  to  the  front. 

But  they  must  wait.  Perhaps  they  must  train,  or  wait  some 
more  in  France.  They  mingle  with  a  new  people,  they  en- 
counter a  strange  language.  They  confront  new  modes  of 
living. 

The  temptations  are  strong.  Home  ties  make  for  loneli- 
ness. To  combat  them  often  means  rushing  into  distractions 
which  work  grave  harm.  To  be  blunt,  gambling,  women  and 
drink  seem  the  most  accessible  diversions. 


95 


That  is,  unless  you  help  put  a  Y.  M.  C.  A.  in  that  French 
town.  Unless  you  are  willing  to  give  the  men  who  are 
lighting  your  fight,  perhaps  laying  down  their  lives  for  you, 
the  bare  necessities  of  civilized  living. 

Do  you  realize  that  one  of  the  strongest  demands  of  the 
man  over  there  is  for  religion?  He  is  down  to  bed  rock. 
He  wants  to  talk  of  the  basic  things  of  life,  death  and  the 
hereafter. 

A  third  picture.    Words  can't  paint  it.    Try  to  imagine  it 

yourself. 

Your  boy  has  done  his  turn  in  the  trenches.  He  has  stood 
waist-deep  in  mud,  he  has  withstood  the  stench  and  the 
cooties — yes,  we  can  talk  about  them  if  our  sons  and  our 
brothers  are  infested  with  them — and  then  comes  the  supreme 
test.    He  is  about  to  go  "over  the  top". 

Here  he  wants  the  "Y"  man  most  of  all.  Chocolates,  to- 
bacco, hot  and  cold  drinks  mean  infinitely  more  to  him  than 
you  can  realize. 

He  escaped  the  shrapnel  and  bullets,  he  fought  until  he  all 
but  dropped  from  sheer  exhaustion. 

Now  he  comes  staggering  back,  every  nerve  on  edge,  every 
muscle  taut.  He  is  more  literally  "all  in"  than  you  ever  can 
realize  on  this  side  of  the  water. 

Bodily  rest  he  needs,  and  will  get.  Mental  reaction,  too, 
he  must  have,  and  will  get. 

Only  will  he  get  that  of  the  brothel  and  the  booze  joint? 
Or  will  he  get  the  clean,  wholesome  welcome  of  the  "Y"  hut? 

It's  up  to  you.    He  came  through.    Will  you? 

Can  the  "Y"  meet  his  need? 

That  is  largely  up  to  you.  You  are  asked  to  contribute 
today  to  enable  the  "Y"  to  carry  on  the  work. 

A  POINT  OF  VIEW 
ABOUT  WHICH  YOU  MIGHT  BUILD  A  SPEECH 

"Nothing  is  too  good  for  our  fighting  men." 
You  admit  that.   You  preach  it. 

The  fighting  man  needs  a  home.  Any  man  does.  The  "Y" 
can't  give  him  precisely  that;  it  can  provide  the  best  substi- 
tute to  be  had. 

96 


He  needs  a  place  to  keep  in  touch  with  his  real  home — to 
write  letters.  The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  can  furnish  that.  Millions  of 
letters  have  been  written  on  Y.  M.  C.  A.  stationery  in  a 
single  month. 

He  needs  a  church.  The  "Y"  can  provide  that.  Many  of 
the  foremost  clergymen,  and  some  of  the  leading  laymen  are 
meeting  that  need.  Fired  with  the  message  of  Christ,  giving 
their  services  loyally,  willingly,  unto  death  if  need  be,  they 
are  ministering  to  our  men  on  foreign  soil  and  on  high  seas. 

The  man  in  uniform  needs  fellowship.  He  finds  that  in  a 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  hut.  He  has  a  friend  in  the  man  with  the 
Red  Triangle  on  his  sleeve,  who  has  not  sought  a  job,  but 
who  answered  a  call  to  service,  who  will  go  through  thick 
and  thin  for  him. 

Sorely  does  he  need  relaxation,  diversion  and  entertain- 
ment. No  doubt  but  that  the  "Y"  has  supplied  these  needs. 
The  foremost  men  and  women  of  the  stage  have  faced  hard- 
ships to  entertain  our  soldiers,  sailors  and  marines.  Motion 
picture  films  have  been  shipped  in  vast  quantities.  Entertain- 
ers of  all  sorts  have  answered  the  call. 

The  fighting  man  needs  mental  food.  He  may  wish  to 
learn  French,  to  know  something  of  the  country  where  he  is 
fighting,  to  specialize  in  that  field  which  will  earn  promotion 
for  him.  The  educational  courses  of  the  "Y"  have  followed 
the  young  man  of  the  country  to  France. 

Frequently  the  fighting  man  needs  a  lawyer,  a  banker,  a 
counsellor,  an  adviser,  an  agent  to  perform  all  sorts  of  mis- 
sions for  which  he  has  not  the  time  nor  facilities.  The  Y. 
M.  C.  A.  secretary  is  meeting  these  needs.  Through  a  special 
arrangement,  millions  of  dollars  of  soldiers  money  have  been 
transmitted  to  families  or  deposited  in  home  banks.  Wills 
have  been  drawn,  powers  of  attorney  arranged.  Dying  mes- 
sages have  been  taken,  photographs  transmitted,  immeasurable 
services  rendered. 

Today  the  soldier  needs  you.  He  needs  your  money  which 
will  enable  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  to  continue  this  work  in  the  ever 
increasing  scale  made  necessary  by  the  fast  growing  military 
establishment. 

The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  men  have  failed  at  times.   But  the  Y.  M. 


97 


C.  A.  has  not  failed.  Testimony  is  ample  that  it  is  meeting  in 
increasing  measure  the  needs  of  the  man  in  uniform. 

AN  APPEAL  TO  WOMEN 

Pies  that  Mother  used  to  make  are  the  least  of  the  things 
that  your  boys  will  get  homesick  for  in  France. 

There  is  danger  over  there,  there  is  hardship,  but  did  you 
ever  examine  into  your  boy's  mind  and  habits  of  thought 
enough  to  realize  that  neither  of  these  bother  him  one  bit? 
The  chances  are  he  hasn't  given  them  a  thought.  They  won't 
trouble  him  much  when  he  gets  there. 

But  something,  unexpected  by  him,  will  happen  when  he  ar- 
rives. Ask  any  private  who  has  come  back,  and  you  can  take 
the  repeated  word  of  General  Pershing  and  other  high  officers 
for  the  same  thing, — that  the  most  discouraging  phase  of 
life  in  France  is  the  monotony,  the  dreariness  and  the  sense 
of  loneliness  that  come  from  waiting  and  training,  asso- 
ciating only  with  men,  and  the  lack,  not  so  much  of  the  com- 
forts, as  of  the  less  tangible  relationships  of  home. 

In  other  words,  the  soldier  is  apt  to  find  an  absence  of  the 
actual  dangers  and  hardships  which  he  was  all  keyed  up  to 
encounter  as  part  of  the  adventure. 

Imagine,  if  you  can,  the  effect  upon  a  man  when  he  is  de- 
prived of  his  women  folk — mother,  sister,  wife,  sweetheart 
and  the  home  crowd.  As  Arthur  Gleason  puts  it  in  The 
Survey : — 

"The  presence  of  decent  women  in  the  canteens  of  the  Red 
Triangle  is  the  best  substitute.  The  three  hundred  Red  Tri- 
angle women  are  probably  of  more  social  value  to  the  army 
community  than  the  fourteen  hundred  men.  A  most  im- 
portant work  in  personal  relationship  at  the  front  is  carried 
on  by  these  women.  The  soldiers  want  to  talk  with  a  decent 
woman,  who  'savvies  United  States'  and  looks  like  the  folks 
he  left  behind." 

The  women's  side  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tion work  should  appeal  to  every  woman.  Women  always 
have  had  a  part  in  wars.  We  are  just  beginning  to  organize 
their  efforts  to  make  them  more  effective. 

But  the  men  secretaries  help  fill  the  home  gap.  Your  boy 


98 


was  a  gregarious  sort  of  a  chap.  He  had  many  types  of 
friends.  He  had  an  older  man  whom  he  looked  up  to.  ^aybe 
it  was  the  clergyman,  maybe  it  was  just  a  friend  of  the  fam- 
ily; and  he  had  many  pals  of  his  own  age  whose  interests 
were  far  different  from  his  and  that  helped  to  make  them 
all  the  more  interesting. 

Over  there  he  is  a  soldier.  His  daily  companions  are  sol- 
diers. With  them  he  forms  the  closest  ties  and  most  lasting 
friendships,  but  a  civilian  friend  helps  mightily  to  break  the 
monotony. 

There  are  things  these  Y.  M.  C.  A.  secretaries  can  do  for 
your  boy  which  the  soldier  has  not  the  time  to  attend  to  for 
himself.  It  would  be  hard  to  enumerate  them  because  they 
are  as  diverse  and  unexpected  as  the  service  of  a  mother 
called  upon  constantly  to  render  to  her  son. 

You  have  heard  of  the  entertainments  the  Association  pro- 
vides for  him;  of  the  motion  pictures,  of  the  educational 
classes,  of  the  religious  services.  Many  of  the  reports  of 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  secretaries  no  longer  deal  with  these  routine  mat- 
ters, but  are  chock  full  of  examples  of  the  unusual  things 
they  are  called  upon  to  do. 

One  boy's  father  died  at  home  leaving  his  estate  in  such 
shape  that  this  young  man's  power-of-attorney  was  necessary 
before  the  money  could  be  made  available  for  his  younger 
brother  and  sister.  The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  secretary,  through  other 
secretaries  back  home,  arranged  this. 

There  are  all  sorts  of  commissions  which  the  "Y"  men  are 
asked  to  execute — writing  letters,  attending  to  business  de- 
tails, helping  soldiers  care  for  or  forward  personal  property, 
seeing  that  they  get  newspapers,  and  answering  the  numerous 
questions  which  arise  in  the  leisure  hours  of  a  young  man  in 
a  strange  country. 

There  is  no  need  to  harrow  your  feelings  by  going  into  the 
service  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  may  be  called  upon  to  perform  for 
your  boy  under  stress  of  fighting,  or  if  he  is  wounded  or  cap- 
tured. Many  times  that  cup  of  chocolate  or  that  biscuit  which 
the  soldier  received  out  in  the  fighting  zone  has  actually 
saved  his  life.  Association  workers  aid  the  Red  Cross  in 
acting  as  stretcher  bearers  for  the  wounded.  Frequently  the 
Red  Triangle  men  have  borne  the  burden  of  getting  the 


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wounded  back  to  dressing  stations  themselves.  They  minister 
to  the  walking  wounded,  those  body  weary,  mind  fagged,  soul 
sick,*  slightly  wounded,  who  must  follow  the  trail  back  to  a 
point  where  they  can  hope  to  get  some  attention. 

The  "Y"  fathers,  mothers  and  big  brothers  your  boy  on 
hospital  ship,  on  transport,  and  during  every  stage  of  his 
progress  toward  the  fighting  front  and  back  if  need  be, 
and  it  wrill  minister  to  him  in  a  German  prison  camp. 

Women  have  contributed  generously  in  money  in  previous 
campaigns.  Their  part  has  been  more  than  that,  and  must  be 
more  than  that  if  the  present  drive  is  to  go  over  the  top. 
Women  not  only  give  money,  they  influence  tremendously  the 
giving  of  money.  Not  only  your  gifts  but  your  influence  on 
others  who  will  give,  are  of  major  importance  if  your  boy  is 
to  have  the  administrations  he  needs  while  he  is  in  uniform. 

While  your  boy  is  fighting  to  preserve  your  home  you  owe 
him  at  least  the  best  substitute  that  you  can  give  for  his 
home  until  the  job  is  done. 

TWO  CABLEGRAMS 

Names  have  not  been  mentioned  in  this  book.  There 
are  too  many  "Y"  men  and  women  doing  valiant  and 
heroic  service  to  cite  specific  cases. 

But  here  are  two  cablegrams  picked  at  random  from  the 
many  reports  received  every  day  the  American  troops 
have  been  in  action,  which  tell  of  the  courage  of  workers 
under  fire.  The  men  and  women  mentioned  herein  have 
met  the  supreme  test  in  offering  their  lives  when  the 
occasion  arose  in  just  the  same  way  that  scores  of  other 
Association  workers  have  done. 

The  cablegrams  follow: 

OVERSEAS 

PERSONNEL. 
FIRST  CABLE : 

A  GREAT  SERVICE  HAS  BEEN  RENDERED  BY 
THIRTY  AMERICAN  YMCA  WORKERS  STATIONED 
FRENCH  TROOPS  UNDER  TERRIFIC  SHELL  FIRE 
FACING   GERMAN   DRIVE   ALONG   AISNE.  HELD 


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PLACE  UNTIL  LAST  RETIRING  WITH  TROOPS  AID- 
ING WHENEVER  IT  IS  POSSIBLE  STOP.  ALL 
STORES  FOOD  DISTRIBUTED  WEARY  POILUS 
WHOSE  SUPPLIES  FAILED  REACH  THEM  COFFEE 
SOUP  MADE  SERVED  UNTIL  BUILDING  SHAT- 
TERED BY  GERMAN  SHELLS  STOP.  WORKERS 
MADE  WAY  BACK  ACROSS  FIELDS  SWEPT  BY 
SHRAPNEL  HIGH  EXPLOSIVE  MACHINE  GUN  FIRE 
FROM  GERMAN  PLANES  CARRYING  EQUIPMENT 
POSSIBLE  TOOK  UP  NEW  POSITIONS  WITH 
TROOPS  MOLDVAREN  (93?)  FOYERS  DU  SOLDAT 
HAVE  BEEN  DESTROYED  SHELL  FIRE  OR  CAP- 
TURED. THREE  WAREHOUSES  YMCA  OFFICIALS 
BURNED  IN  ORDER  TO  PREVENT  REMAINING 
STORES  FALLING  IN  HANDS  OF  ENEMY.  MISS 
MARIE  C.  HERRON  CINCINNATI  SISTER  IN  LAW 
WILLIAM  HOWARD  TAFT  AND  MISS  JANE  BOWLER 
ALSO  CINCINNATI  YMCA  CANTEEN  WORKERS 
PARTICULARLY  DISTINGUISHED  THEMSELVES 
LABORING  ON  WITH  TROOPS  REFUGEES  WOUND- 
ED WITH  VILLAGES  BURNING  ABOUT  THEM.  MISS 
BOWLER  WHO  STAYED  AT  POST  SOISSONS  ALL 
THROUGH  LAST  OFFENSIVE  HELD  IT  AGAIN  DE- 
SPITE TERRIFIC  BOMBARDMENT.  FINALLY  LEFT 
WHEN  EVERYTHING  FLAMES  LESS  THAN  HOUR 
BEFORE  GERMANS  ENTRANCE.  CARL  LITTLE  AGE 
THIRTY  THREE  NORTH  BROOKFIELD,  MASS.  RE- 
TURNED BURNING  VILLAGE  WHICH  TROOPS 
WERE  ABANDONING  IN  ORDER  TO  HELP  CHILD 
REFUGEES.  WILLIAM  EDWARD  WRIGHT  TOLEDO 
OHIO  STATE  UNIVERSITY  FOUGHT  BACK  WITH 
HIS  REGIMENT  AT  EACH  PAUSE  WOULD  GATHER 
SUPPLIES  DISTRIBUTE  FOOD  FROM  STANDS  BE- 
SIDES ROAD  SWEPT  BY  SHELL  FIRE  BOMBS  WITH 
ASSISTANCE  ERIC  MAYELL  NYAC  NY. 
WILLIAM  IRVING  HASTIE  CENTERDALE  RHODE 
ISLAND  HELPED  BACK  HUNDREDS  REFUGEES  AND 
WOUNDED.  SECURED  FLOUR  FROM  RED  CROSS  SO 
AS  TO  SUPPLEMENT  OWN  SUPPLIES.  FOUND  BAK- 
ERY BAKED  HUNDREDS  LOAVES  OF  BREAD. 


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SECOND  CABLE: 

SECRETARIES  AT  FRONT  RESPONDING  SPLENDID- 
LY. INTENSIFIED  LABOR  PLACED  UPON  THEM  BY 
ATTACK.  MAXIMUM  PRESSURE  ALL  ALONG  LINES 
BESIDES  UNDER  ASSAULT.  SECRETARIES  ARE  GO- 
ING ALMOST  CONSTANTLY  AS  CLOSE  FRONT  AS 
PERMITTED  GIVING  MEN  SMOKES  FRUIT  CHOCO- 
LATE OFTEN  TAKING  THEM  INTO  FRONT  TRENCH- 
ES. MANY  SECRETARIES  SUFFERING  FROM  SHELL 
SHOCK  OR  GAS  BUT  KEEP  GOING  IN  INTENSE  AT- 
TACK ALL  YMCA  STORES  WILLINGLY  GIVEN  MEN 
IN  NEED.  WHERE  COMMUNICATION  INTERRUPT- 
ED HELP  FEED  MEN  AID  WOUNDED  ASSIST  CHAP- 
LAINS. SOUPS  FROM  SUPPLIES  AVAILABLE  FEED 
MEN  RAVENOUS  UNDER  STRAIN.  ATTACK  TO 
AMERICAN  WORKERS  KILLED  IN  TWO  DAYS  HAL- 
LIDAY  SMITH  NYACK  NY  AND  REVEREND  HAD- 
LEY  H  COOPER  PIERMONT  NY  DIED  GASSED  IN 
HOSPITAL  AMERICAN  FRONT.  COOPER  AGE 
THIRTY  TWO  CHICAGO  NORTHWESTERN  THEO- 
LOGICAL SEMINARY  SMITH  AGE  THIRTY  ONE 
PHYSICALLY  DISQUALIFIED  BECAUSE  DISLO- 
CATED SHOULDER  OLD  CHUMS  JUST  PLACED  TO- 
GETHER. SMITH  PROBABLY  SACRIFICED  LIFE  BY 
CONTINUING  WORK  AFTER  GASSED  GOING  OUT 
OF  LINE  OF  DUTY  TO  LEAD  AMMUNITION  TRAIN 
WHICH  LOST  ITS  WAY. 


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